#democracticrepublicofcongo — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #democracticrepublicofcongo, aggregated by home.social.
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Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum
Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum
IUCN Status: Endangered
Location: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho
Found across wetlands, grasslands, and cultivated lands of eastern and southern Africa, this elegant bird is particularly emblematic in Uganda, where they feature on the national flag and coat of arms.
The Endangered Grey Crowned #Crane is one of #Africa’s most graceful, regal and recognisable #birds, adorned with a halo of golden feathers and traversing the skies and forests of #Uganda, #Tanzania, #DRC #Congo, #Namibia and more. Behind their dazzling beauty is a grim reality. Since 1985, their global population has crashed by over 59%, driven by relentless wetland destruction, tobacco, timber and cocoa agriculture, palm oil expansion, illegal egg collection, and wildlife trafficking. Once numbering over 100,000, now fewer than 25,000 mature individual birds remain alive. Urgent action is needed to save these majestic and irreplaceable birds before their calls fall silent across Africa’s skies. Help them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The crowning jewel of #Uganda 🇺🇬 is their national #bird, the Grey-Crowned Crane, a majestic #songbird 🎶🐦👑 of the #peatlands 🌊 Sadly, this title hasn’t protected them from #PalmOil and hunting. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-b7K
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterOnce numbering over 100K, the most regal #bird 👑🐦 in #Tanzania #Congo #SouthAfrica and #Namibia hangs on for survival against Big #PalmOil 🌴 Big #Tobacco 🚬 and #Hydroelectric dams 🚜 Help them survive! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-b7K
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAppearance & Behaviour
Standing a metre tall, the Grey Crowned Crane captivates with their stately grey plumage, snowy cheeks, bright red wattle and a dazzling aurora of stiff golden feathers. Their courtship rituals are equally enchanting, with pairs leaping, bowing, and calling in dazzling synchronised dances that can attract the attention of entire flocks. Their red gular sac inflates with a deep booming call, echoing through the savannah.
Unlike other crane species, Grey Crowned Cranes possess a long hind toe allowing them to roost in trees – a trait thought to be ancient among cranes. They often gather in large flocks outside of the breeding season and are known to adapt their behaviour to live increasingly close to human communities.
Threats
• Wetland destruction and degradation
Wetlands are vital breeding and foraging grounds for Grey Crowned Cranes. These habitats are being drained or converted for agriculture, tree plantations (particularly Eucalyptus), and dam construction. Overgrazing by livestock and increased sedimentation from deforestation also contribute to their degradation, leaving cranes with fewer safe places to breed and raise their chicks.
• Industrial palm oil and agricultural expansion
Agricultural land-use change, including the expansion of palm oil and food crop cultivation, is rapidly encroaching on Grey Crowned Crane habitat. In places like Kenya and Uganda, this leads to the fragmentation of once-continuous wetland and savannah ecosystems. The conversion of native grasslands into farmland eliminates critical feeding and nesting areas, directly impacting crane survival.
• Illegal capture for trade and egg collection
Chicks and eggs are frequently stolen from nests to be sold into the illegal pet trade or to captive facilities. This is especially common in Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, where birds are trafficked domestically and exported to informal zoos or exotic collectors, particularly in the Middle East and Asia. The removal of young birds from the wild not only reduces the population but causes immense suffering and family disruption among cranes.
• Poisoning and persecution by farmers
In some areas, cranes are seen as agricultural pests due to their foraging on newly planted crops such as maize. As a result, they are deliberately poisoned or killed in retaliation. Poisoning incidents are widespread and often indiscriminate, also affecting other wildlife and entire crane flocks, with devastating consequences for local populations.
• Electrocution and collisions with power lines
As human infrastructure expands, cranes are increasingly flying into overhead power lines or being electrocuted while roosting on utility poles. This is particularly prevalent in Uganda, South Africa, and Tanzania. These deaths are preventable, but without mitigation measures like line markers or insulation, the threat will likely increase as rural electrification spreads.
• Climate change and extreme weather events
Rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change across southern Africa are expected to reshape crane habitat. Droughts reduce water levels in breeding wetlands, while extreme weather events like hail or flooding can destroy nests and kill chicks. Long-term climate shifts may also affect the availability of the crops and invertebrates cranes rely on for food.
• Disturbance from human activity and land use conflicts
As human populations grow, cranes are forced to live closer to agricultural areas and settlements. This increases the likelihood of disturbance during the breeding season, leading to nest abandonment and lower chick survival. Intense land-use pressures mean that even protected areas are often not safe havens, with noise, hunting, and encroachment disrupting the cranes’ life cycle.
• Coal mining, peat extraction, hydroelectric dams
In South Africa and Rwanda, coal mining and proposed peat extraction projects threaten to destroy large areas of wetland and grassland habitat. These industries alter hydrological regimes, pollute waterways, and destroy nesting grounds. The cumulative impact of such extractive industries could irreversibly damage the remaining strongholds of the species.
• Avian influenza and disease outbreaks
A highly virulent strain of avian influenza (H5N1) has already killed dozens of Grey Crowned Cranes in South Africa. With increased human-wildlife contact and climatic stress, the risk of future outbreaks is likely to grow. Disease outbreaks can wipe out entire flocks and undermine conservation gains in areas where populations have recently stabilised.
Geographic Range
The Grey Crowned Crane is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Though widespread, the species is highly localised in wetland-dependent habitats, and their historical range is shrinking rapidly due to land-use changes and human encroachment.
Diet
Omnivorous and opportunistic, Grey Crowned Cranes forage in wetlands, fields, and grasslands. Their diet includes seeds, grass tips, grain, insects, frogs, lizards, crabs, and even snakes. They cleverly stamp their feet to flush out hidden insects and often forage alongside grazing animals, seizing disturbed prey with swift precision.
Mating and Reproduction
Breeding is timed with rainfall – during dry seasons in East Africa and wet seasons in southern regions. Pairs construct large, floating nests in tall wetland vegetation. Clutches contain 2–5 eggs, incubated by both sexes for about 30 days. Chicks are precocial, running soon after hatching and fledging between 56–100 days. In rare communal events resembling ‘weddings’, flocks may witness two young cranes pairing off to begin a new life together.
FAQs
How many Grey Crowned Cranes are left in the wild?
As of 2024, the global population is estimated between 30,200 and 36,900 individuals, equivalent to about 20,100–24,600 mature birds. This marks a catastrophic decline from over 100,000 in 1985 (Morrison, 2015; Wamiti et al., 2023). While some countries like Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia are seeing modest population increases due to reintroductions, overall trends remain concerning.
How long do Grey Crowned Cranes live?
In the wild, Grey Crowned Cranes can live up to 22–25 years, while in captivity, they may reach 30 years or more with proper care (Archibald et al., 2020).
Why are Grey Crowned Cranes endangered?
The main drivers are habitat loss due to agriculture, deforestation, and infrastructure development, alongside illegal wildlife trade, poisoning, and disturbance from human activity. Out-of-control palm oil plantations and eucalyptus monocultures have also devastated wetland habitats across their range (Morrison & Dodman, 2019).
Do Grey Crowned Cranes make good pets?
Absolutely not. Keeping Grey Crowned Cranes as pets is cruel and contributes to their extinction. Many chicks and eggs are taken illegally from the wild, leading to population collapse and breaking up family groups. If you care about these birds, never support the exotic pet trade.
Take Action!
Boycott palm oil and products contributing to deforestation. Advocate for the protection and restoration of African wetlands. Support indigenous-led conservation and agroecology efforts that protect native grasslands and wildlife. Report illegal wildlife trade and pressure governments to enforce protective laws. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the Grey Crowned Crane by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Amulike, B. B., Griffin, C. R., & Fuller, T. K. (2023). Conservation-related knowledge, interactions, and attitudes of local people toward Grey Crowned-Cranes in Tanzania. Ecology and Society, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-02467-180203
BirdLife International. 2024. Balearica regulorum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T22692046A240198049. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22692046A240198049.en. Accessed on 02 April 2025.
Wamiti, W., & Kimani, D. K. (2020). Kenya’s first countrywide census of Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum, February–March 2019. Bulletin of the African Bird Club, 27(2), 210–218. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344680836_Kenya’s_first_countrywide_census_of_Grey_Crowned_Crane_Balearica_regulorum_February-March_2019
Wamiti, S. W. (2022). Factors Affecting Population, Nesting Habits, and Conservation of Grey Crowned Crane in Lake Ol’ Bolossat Basin, Kenya. University of Nairobi. Retrieved from https://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/163228
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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
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Pledge your supportLearn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global South America S.E. Asia India Africa West Papua & PNGGrey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum
Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense
Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata
Blonde Capuchin Sapajus flavius
Savage’s Glass Frog Centrolene savagei
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying Fake labels Indigenous Land-grabbing Human rights abuses Deforestation Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read more#animals #Bird #birdflu #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Burundi #climateChange #Congo #Crane #dams #deforestation #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #DRC #electrocution #EndangeredSpecies #ForgottenAnimals #humanWildlifeConflict #hunting #hydroelectric #illegalPetTrade #Kenya #Lesotho #Malawi #Namibia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #peatlands #poaching #Rwanda #song #songbird #songbirds #SouthAfrica #SouthAfrica #Tanzania #tobacco #Uganda #wildlifetrade
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Palm Oil Protesters Silenced and Arrested in Congo
On April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), (formerly known as Feronia) environmental rights defenders were arrested, and a journalist was kidnapped after displaying banners denouncing PHC’s mistreatment of local communities. PHC, formerly known as Feronia, is a multinational company that operates large palm oil plantations in the DRC. Take action in solidarity of these people and #BoycottPalmOil when you shop!
In April, environmental defenders in the #DRC were arrested and kidnapped at a shareholder meeting for highlighting #PalmOil #HumanRights abuses 🔥🌴⛔️ Since then no action has been taken! Stand with them 💪 #WorkersRights #BoycottPalmOil https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8xX @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter#PalmOil giant #PHC formerly #Feronia, violently silences environmental defenders in the #DRC #Congo. Protesters arrested, journalist kidnapped, workers left without justice. Take action for #HumanRights #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8xX
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterZongwe Lukama, F. (2023, May 2). DRC: Mystery and collusion in the disappearance of environmental defenders fighting palm oil multinationals. Kilalo Press. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has since asked for a company response, but to date none has been forthcoming from the palm oil company.
Arrests and Abduction at PHC Shareholders Meeting
On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), environmental rights defenders were arrested, and an environmental journalist was kidnapped after displaying banners denouncing PHC’s mistreatment of local communities. PHC, formerly known as Feronia, is a multinational company that operates large palm oil plantations in the DRC.
Who are Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC)?
Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) are a palm oil company that operate extensive palm oil plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company produces palm oil used in many products like food, cosmetics, and biofuels. PHC has faced numerous protests and criticism for its detrimental impact on the environment and local communities.
The people versus Feronia: Fighting palm oil agrocolonialism in the Congo
This powerful #comic is by Didier Kassai and Dieudonne Botoko Kendewa is about a community in the #Congo 🇨🇩 living next to the #Feronia #palmoil plantation. They faced #violence…
by Palm Oil DetectivesThe Protesters’ Demands
The protest was sparked by a letter from the Réseau d’Information et d’Appui aux ONG (RIAO – DRC), a network supporting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the DRC. This letter led PHC to hold an urgent meeting in Kinshasa.
Protesters had several demands:
- Release people who were unjustly imprisoned.
- Compensate workers for accidents and retirees.
- Reopen the Lokutu and Boteka ports, which they argue are public roads, not PHC property.
Call to Action and Strong Suppression
The protesters wanted to push state authorities to act on an open letter from RIAO – DRC and its partners. This letter discussed mediation claims funded by the German Bank (DEG) and the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) to help communities affected by PHC. Unfortunately, security forces were called to stop the protesters, damage their equipment, and kidnap the journalist and environmental defender.
An Urgent Appeal for Support
RIAO-RDC, a national support network for NGOs, made an urgent call to security authorities and stakeholders to find their members, Dieumerci Mpay Ngomba, and a cameraman journalist from Numerica TV in Kinshasa. They called these actions “kidnapping” and stressed that defenders of forest community rights should not face political or rights abuses.
An Alarming and Unjust Situation for Environmental Defenders
The situation for environmental defenders in the DRC is worrying. RIAO-RDC said Dieumerci was arrested because of a complaint by PHC. At the General Prosecutor’s Office near the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa Gombe, protesters were charged with inciting breaches against public authority under article 135 of the Congolese penal code.
Targeting Environmental Advocates
RIAO-RDC believes that PHC is mainly targeting Jean François Mombia Atukua, who previously led a disguised march against RIAO and its director at the Lokutu base. The organisation urges the judiciary to ensure the safety of those arrested and uphold press freedom and human rights.
Company Response
Following publication PHC did not respond to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s request for comment regarding these allegations.
References
- La Rédaction. (2024, May 3). DRC: Mystery and Collusion in the Disappearance of Environmental Defenders Fighting Palm Oil Multinationals. Kilalo Press.
- Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. DRC: Mystery and Collusion in the Disappearance of Environmental Defenders Fighting Palm Oil Multinationals.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2022, February 3). Research: Small Room for Compromise Between Oil Palm Cultivation and Primate Conservation in Africa.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, September 1). Africa’s Rainforests Are Different: Why It Matters That They’re Protected.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, February 14). As Palm Oil Production Ramps Up in Africa, Communities Work to Avoid Problems Plaguing Other Regions.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, January 18). Africa: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2022, June 16). The People Versus Feronia: Fighting Palm Oil Agrocolonialism in the Congo. https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/16/the-people-versus-feronia-fighting-palm-oil-agrocolonialism-in-the-congo/
Zongwe Lukama, F. (2023, May 2). DRC: Mystery and collusion in the disappearance of environmental defenders fighting palm oil multinationals. Kilalo Press. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has since asked for a company response, but to date none has been forthcoming from the palm oil company.
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…
Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples
In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify…
Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways
Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways | A study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst reveals that the expansion of oil palm plantations in West Papua’s Kais River watershed has significantly degraded…
New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”
Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite…
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
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Join 1,397 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #Congo #corruption #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #DRC #Feronia #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #PalmOil #palmoil #PHC #slavery #workersRights #WorkersRights
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African Forest Elephants Help Fight Climate Change
Discover the awe-inspiring role of African forest #elephants in the Congo Basin—nature’s master gardeners who literally shape the world around them! These gentle giants roam through muddy, mineral-rich paradises called baïs, fostering the growth of carbon-absorbing trees that make our planet healthier. By tending to these unique landscapes, they are the unsung heroes in the fight against climate change. Want to ensure these ecological architects keep doing their vital work? Join the movement to protect their habitat—say no to palm oil and adopt a vegan lifestyle! 🐘🌳#BoycottPalmOil #BeVegan #Boycott4Wildlife
https://youtu.be/s584AP-BYm0?si=Zrwc5CFFjAxAqmas
Take action by sharing this!
African forest #elephants 🐘 in #Congo 🇨🇩 are essential to fighting #climatechange 🌳💚 by capturing #carbon and dispersing seeds in the rainforest. Help them every time you shop, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2024/04/28/african-forest-elephants-unsung-heroes-helping-congo-fight-climate-change/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterGentle giant pachyderms #African forest #elephants 🐘🐘 are the unsung heroes helping #climatechange. They capture #carbon in the #DRC’s 🇨🇩🌳rainforest! Help them survive with your supermarket choices #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2024/04/28/african-forest-elephants-unsung-heroes-helping-congo-fight-climate-change/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterThis story was written by Leonie Joubert and originally published by Mongabay on August 15, 2023 and was republished under a Creative Commons licence.
The approach to the “village of elephants” in the Sangha Rainforest in the Central African Republic must be made in complete silence. Not even the faintest rustle of backpack on rain jacket should break the soundscape as visitors wade through the sometimes waist-deep swamp at the forest’s edge. The Indigenous Ba’aka guides must be able to listen for any signs of nearby elephants, so they can steer the visitors clear and avoid a close encounter with these giants. When a few pachyderms saunter out of the dense greenery, the Ba’aka shoo them away calmly.
The thick vegetation gives way suddenly to a baï. This is no mere watering hole. The sandy clearing stretches for half a kilometer, more than a quarter of a mile, in the otherwise unbroken canopy of the world’s second-largest tropical forest.
A handful of researchers camp out on a timber observation platform, overlooking a place that has drawn generations of elephants to its mineral- and salt-laden sand and muddy water. They document how the animals use their trunks or tusks to dig into the sand, eavesdrop on the animals’ conversations, and count the many other species that congregate here.
This is Dzanga baï, a meeting place for critically endangered African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) in the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas where these animals come together in huge numbers to dig for nutrients they can’t get from the otherwise abundant forests.
Baïs are unique to the Congo Basin’s forests, and new research is underway to understand the role these mineral-rich pockets play as a supplement to the elephants’ diet, how this sustains the animals’ population, and how they therefore contribute to the carbon-capture function of the forest.
Unlike the Amazon, the Congo Basin’s forests still have their original megafauna, elephants in particular. And they have these salt-rich clearings. Conservationists are beginning to understand the importance of elephants as forest gardeners here, and how their taste for certain trees and fruits has sculpted a forest that absorbs more carbon per hectare than the Amazon.
The Global Carbon Budget project estimated Africa’s total greenhouse gas emissions for 2021 at 1.45 billion metric tons. Every year, the Congo Basin’s forests soak up 1.1 billion metric tons of atmospheric carbon, storing it in trees and soil; in 2020 carbon credit prices, this service would be worth $55 billion.
Forest elephants, smaller than their better-known savanna cousins or even Asian elephants, prefer certain lower-growing, tasty trees. This picky browsing pressure creates gaps in the canopy that allow other, less palatable but carbon-dense species to reach tremendous heights. Elephants’ appetite for the fruit of these bigger trees then means they spread their seeds far and wide.
A 2019 study from the Ndoki Forest in the Republic of Congo (ROC) and LuiKotale in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) estimated that if elephants were removed from these sites, the loss of their forest-shaping food preferences would reduce the forest’s carbon capture by 7%.
This finding makes a case not only to stop deforestation in the Congo Basin, but to protect the elephants too, as a way to slow climate breakdown, the study authors wrote.
Mouangi baï, a vast watering hole in the Republic of Congo’s Odzala-Kokoua National Park, is nicknamed Capitale because of the vast number of elephants drawn to its mineral-laden water, mud, and sand. Image courtesy Gwilli Gibbon/African Parks.Salt licks for elephants, gardeners of the forest
Mouangi baï is only about 250 km (155 mi) from Dzanga baï as the crow flies, but it takes a day or two to travel by road and river to get from one to the other.
Researchers with the conservation organization African Parks and Harvard University’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology are zeroing in on Mouangi and other baïs in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the ROC, to clarify the link between baïs, elephants and the forest’s tree species composition.
Nicknamed Capitale by the locals, Mouangi baï in Odzala draws hundreds, maybe even thousands, of elephants, according to Gwili Gibbon, research and monitoring head at African Parks, which manages the park along with the ROC government.
“Mouangi is one of our largest and most renowned baïs,” Gibbon says.
At the intersection of two rivers, Mouangi is more than 1 km (0.6 mi) across and spans 91 hectares (225 acres). It’s the largest of a dozen of Odzala’s baïs that the African Parks and Harvard research collaboration is focusing on.
Odzala-Kokoua National Park extends across 1.35 million hectares (3.34 million acres), and while it has a few thousand baïs, often occurring in clusters within the forest, this ecosystem makes up only about 0.2% of the park’s footprint. Nevertheless, these clearings may be integral to the shape of the forest itself, which is why Harvard assistant professor Andrew Davies and doctoral researcher Evan Hockridge are teaming up with African Parks to understand the importance of the salty watering holes in supporting elephant populations, which then shape the forest mosaic.
The baïs are clearly a hotspot that elephants seek out for their rare minerals in an ecosystem rooted in the nutrient-poor soils typical of the region.
“The elephants use their tusks to scrape topsoil off in specific areas, and eat the finer dust on the surface,” says Hockridge, a landscape ecologist. “They also dig large mining sites or wells, as much as a meter [3 feet] deep.”
The animals’ excavations go even deeper at times, down to where water carries the salt in a more accessible form. The need to ingest the mineral-rich dust, mud and water keeps the animals returning to these sites.
An elephant digging for salt-rich mud in the Dzanga baï in the Sangha Rainforest in the Central African Republic. Image courtesy Jan Teede.But how the baïs formed in the first place — they’re present in the Congo Basin, but not in the Amazon — and why they remain clear of forest encroachment are still a mystery.
Hockridge says no one has tried to establish if the now-extinct megafauna of the Amazon once made similar clearings there, or if baï size correlates to the size of the animals visiting them.
“One hypothesis is that megafauna effectively create large, nutrient-rich, lick-like clearings. But it hasn’t been quantified that baïs are manufactured or maintained by megafauna,” he says.
The researchers say they hope to answer this puzzle: Do large mammals like elephants maintain and stabilize the baïs?
Anecdotes from the DRC might give the first glimpse of an answer, according to Harvard’s Davies.
“Baïs may be closing in the DRC, and it could be because the elephants are in a war zone, so they don’t have the big bulldozer effect,” he says.
The hypothesis is that if fewer elephants visit and maintain these clearings, the baïs will be swallowed up by the forest.
Gibbon’s African Parks team has set up experimental plots in the Odzala, where they’ve buried salt in the sand at a similar depth to which elephants excavate. Researchers are monitoring these sites to see if more animals will congregate around the plots, whether this impacts the vegetation cover in and around the baïs, and whether there’s a shift in the carbon-capture potential of the surrounding forests.
This study is centered in Odzala, although the researchers say they hope to expand the work into the Ndoki region of the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas.
Indigenous Ba’aka trackers work with researchers and tourist operators in various parks in Odzala-Kokoua National Park and the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas. Their knowledge of animal behaviour and forest life is essential to accessing these wildernesses. Image courtesy Jan Teede.Baïs have a busy social scene
It isn’t just elephants that congregate at the baïs. These watering holes have a bustling social scene.
Gibbon describes the flocks of African green pigeons (Treron calvus) that gather at Capitale at dawn and dusk; buffalo and several bird species that visit during daylight hours; and the hyenas that can be heard calling after dark as the elephants mine for salt.
Wildlife refuges like these in the Congo Basin are also home to the critically endangered western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), two unusual forest and swamp-dwelling antelope — the bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) and sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) — as well as central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes), bonobos (Pan pansicus), and the endangered gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus).
The forests of Gabon, southern Cameroon and southern Central African Republic also have a high number of baïs, and the findings from these studies could eventually be extrapolated to give an idea of the implications for the Congo Basin more widely.
“The area that baïs’ cover is tiny, but they sustain the elephant population,” Davies says. “If our hypothesis is correct, without the baïs you’d have no elephants; without elephants there’s be no big trees with high carbon density, so carbon storage would go down.”
If the forest loses the baïs, it could lose more than just the elephants or see a change in its carbon-capturing treescape. The baïs would no longer draw the many other animals that thrive in these mineral-dense watering holes, and the tourists and environmental researchers drawn to them too.
Citation:
Berzaghi, F., Longo, M., Ciais, P., Blake, S., Bretagnolle, F., Vieira, S., … Doughty, C. E. (2019). Carbon stocks in central African forests enhanced by elephant disturbance. Nature Geoscience, 12(9), 725-729. doi:10.1038/s41561-019-0395-6
Banner image: Elephants dig for salt-rich mud in the Dzanga baï in the Sangha Rainforest in the Central African Republic. Image courtesy Jan Teede.
This story was written by Leonie Joubert and originally published by Mongabay on August 15, 2023 and was republished under a Creative Commons licence.
ENDS
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global South America S.E. Asia India Africa West Papua & PNGFrill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii
Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum
Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense
Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying Fake labels Indigenous Land-grabbing Human rights abuses Deforestation Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
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Shoebill Balaeniceps rex
Shoebill Balaeniceps rex
Vulnerable
Extant (resident)
Central African Republic; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Rwanda; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia
Known for their unnerving and intense stare and imposing, prehistoric appearance – shoebills are magnificent birds. There are less than 8000 individual birds left alive. They are vulnerable from #palmoil, #cocoa and #meat #deforestation, agricultural run-off, #pollution, #mining, #hunting and human persecution. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
The #Shoebill is a magnificent and gentle big bird 🕊️🦤 with an unnerving stare 👀 There are only 8000 left alive in #DRC, #Uganda #Africa. Vulnerable from #palmoil #deforestation, #hunting and more. Fight for them! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/09/10/shoebill-balaeniceps-rex/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterKnown for their menacing stare 👀😸 gentle #shoebills are iconic in #Uganda 🇺🇬 #Congo 🇨🇩 #Tanzania 🇹🇿 They are vulnerable from #hunting, #palmoil #deforestation. Help them and be #vegan 🥕🍆 and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️🔥⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/09/10/shoebill-balaeniceps-rex/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterThere are less than 8,000 birds left alive and they are increasingly threatened by agricultural run-off from palm oil and cocoa deforestation across their range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V7t28Fim34
The shoebill Balaeniceps rex is also known by the common names: the whale-headed stork, shoebill stork and whalehead. Their eponymous feature is their enormous bill They have the third largest bills after pelicans and large storks.
Fast Facts
- When shoebills soar they make around 150 flaps per minute which makes them one of the slowest of any bird, with the exception of the larger stork species.
- They stand stock-still and waiting, all alone giving them an eerie and unnerving appearance. Once they notice fish appearing on the surface of swamps they quickly snap them up into their large bills.
- The shoebill’s chattering large bill makes a sound akin to machine gun fire. This combined with their silent creeping gait can make them seem rather menacing!
- Shoebills are attracted to poorly oxygenated waters, as this means fish must come to the surface to breathe – where they are efficiently captured.
- They are mostly silent except for elaborate bill-clattering communication that happens during their breeding. Chicks make a human-like hiccup sound when signalling hunger.
- Although they have a similar appearance to storks, shoebills are more closely related to pelicans and herons in the order Pelecaniformes.
Appearance & Behaviour
They possess extraordinarily large feet with their middle toe extending up to 18.5 cm in length. This helps them with balance while standing on uneven swamps and on aquatic vegetation while they hunt.
Adults have feathers that range from blue-grey to slate-grey. Juveniles possess similar plumage but in a tawny blue-brown hue.
Shoebills have a modestly sized bill at birth, which grows much larger once chicks reach between 23-43 days old.
Their unusual beauty makes them a must-see for birdwatchers in Africa. Despite their slightly unnerving appearance, these birds are placid and will allow birdwatchers to snap their photo at a range of two metres.
Shoebills are known for staying statue-still and silent in the muddy waters while hunting. These birds stalk their prey in a solitary way, patiently lurking and hunting entirely with their vision. Once prey is spotted they launch a rapid strike. They will sometimes use their big beaks to pry deep into the pond mud and extirpate lung fish with a violent strike.
They are normally silent but will get noisy during nesting season with elaborate bill clattering displays. Adults birds will make a ‘moo’ sound and high pitched whine while clattering their bills in order to communicate with each other. Chicks call out to their mothers with a ‘hiccup’ sound.
Shoebills typically hunt for lungfish and other fish in poorly oxygenated marshlands, bogs, peatland and swamps. Fish frequently break to the surface to breathe – it is then that shoebills rapidly strike. Their large feet enable them to balance on floating vegetation. The movement of hippos can aid the hunting of shoebills, as they rustle up fish from bottom of swamps, pushing them to surface for the shoebills’ easy capture.
Threats
There is estimated to be below 8,000 individual shoebills left and they are classified as vulnerable. Shoebills face a range of anthropogenic threats:
- Palm oil and cocoa deforestation: The mass removal of virgin rainforest for palm oil and cocoa results in mass deaths of shoebills.
- Infrastructure building: roads, dams and powerlines pose a risk to shoebills.
- Meat deforestation: cattle and other animals are known to trample shoebill nests.
- Pollution run-off: from palm oil agrochemicals and mining effluent.
- Hunting: In some cultures shoebills are thought of as a bad omen, in others they are hunted for food.
- Capture for the pet trade: Shoebill eggs and chicks are captured for consumption or sold to zoos.
- Armed human conflict: Armed groups moving through the rainforest has facilitated hunting of shoebills.
- Climate change: Increased extreme weather events like fires and droughts brought on by climate change lowers their numbers.
Habitat
Shoebills are found in central tropical Africa. Including South Sudan, eastern Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, western Tanzania, and northern Zambia. They are non-migratory birds who make limited seasonal movements.
They live in dense freshwater swamps and marshes including undisturbed papyrus and reed beds. They are attracted to areas of mixed vegetation and have been seen on occasion in rice fields and flooded plantations.
Diet
Shoebills mainly consume fish but will also eat a range of wetland vertebrates. Their preferred food is marbled lungfish, tilapia and catfish. When this is not available they are known to consume frogs, nile monitors, baby crocodiles, water snakes, turtles, snails, rodents and other small waterfowl.
Mating and breeding
Shoebills form monogamous pair bonds for the breeding season. They fiercely defend their nests from other birds during their nesting period, which begins either during the monsoon season or after this ends.
Both parents build the nest on a floating and flat platform made up of swamp vegetation and around three metres wide and three metres deep.
Typically the female will lay between one to three eggs, with only one being reared and cared for until maturity. The other eggs are back-ups in case the eldest chick is weak or dies.
In the hot weather, shoebill parents will fill their bills with water to shower their nests to cool their eggs.
Chicks take about 105 days to fledge and juveniles typically fly well by 112 days. Juvenile birds will continue to feed with their mother for another month after this and reach sexual maturity at about three years old.
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Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
BirdLife International. 2018. Balaeniceps rex. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22697583A133840708. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697583A133840708.en. Accessed on 16 February 2023.
Shoebill on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill
Shoebill on Animalia.bio – https://animalia.bio/shoebill
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African Forest Elephant Loxodonta cyclotis
African Forest Elephant Loxodonta cyclotis
Location: Central and West Africa – Guineo-Congolian tropical forests, including Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and surrounding regions.
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
The African Forest #Elephant is a Critically Endangered species found in the dense #rainforests of Central and #WestAfrica. They are smaller than their savanna relatives, with straighter tusks and rounder ears, uniquely adapted to their forested habitat. As ecosystem engineers, these elephants play a crucial role in maintaining Afrotropical forests by dispersing seeds and mitigating against climate change by shaping forest composition. However, relentless #poaching for ivory, habitat destruction due to #palmoil, #cocoa and #tobacco agriculture, and human-elephant conflict have decimated their population. Recent studies have shown that African Forest Elephants’ movement patterns vary significantly between individuals, with some elephants exploring vast distances while others remain in small home ranges. This variation poses unique challenges for conservation efforts. Resist and fight for their survival each time you shop, be #vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.
African Forest #Elephants are ecosystem engineers fighting #ClimateChange in #WestAfrica. Yet #poaching and #palmoil #deforestation have rendered them critically endangered 😿🐘 Help them and be #vegan #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/09/11/african-forest-elephant-loxodonta-cyclotis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterSupremely intelligent and sensitive African Forest #Elephants 🐘🩶 face several grave threats, incl. #PalmOil #Deforestation and #poaching in #Gabon 🇬🇦 #Congo 🇨🇩 #WestAfrica. Fight for them when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🔥🧐⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/09/11/african-forest-elephant-loxodonta-cyclotis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterRapid land use change, including palm oil plantations across their range is driving the direct loss and fragmentation of habitat, is an increasing threat to African elephants across their range.
IUCN red list
Appearance and Behaviour
African Forest Elephants are smaller than their savanna counterparts, with a shoulder height of 2 to 3 metres. They have a more compact build, rounded ears, and long, narrow tusks that point downward, (Gobush et al., 2021). Their grey skin is often darker due to the humid rainforest environment. They live in small, matriarchal family groups and display remarkable individual variation in movement behaviours. Some elephants, known as “explorers,” travel vast distances, while others, the “idlers,” remain within confined home ranges. These behavioural differences complicate conservation efforts, as strategies must account for their diverse space-use needs.
These elephants are highly intelligent and social, living in small, matriarchal family groups that navigate the rainforest together. Their deep infrasonic rumbles travel through the ground, allowing communication over vast distances, even in the thickest jungle. Recent research has revealed that their vocalisations have a structure akin to human syntax—complex combinations of calls used to convey intricate meanings (Hedwig & Kohlberg, 2024).
Other research has found that the foraging, seed dispersal and exploration of African Forest Elephants helps to mitigate African forests against climate change. A 2019 study from the Ndoki Forest in the Republic of Congo (ROC) and LuiKotale in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) estimated that if elephants were removed from these sites, the loss of their forest-shaping food preferences would reduce the forest’s carbon capture by 7%.
Diet
Forest Elephants are frugivorous and play an irreplaceable role as seed dispersers, particularly for large fruiting trees. They are responsible for spreading the seeds of over 41 timber species, including Bobgunnia fistuloides (pao rosa), a tree prized for its high-value wood (Blake et al., 2009; Campos-Arceiz & Blake, 2011). Without these elephants, the rainforest’s ability to regenerate and store carbon would be drastically diminished.
Reproduction and Mating
With a gestation period of 22 months—the longest of any land mammal—female African Forest elephants give birth only once every four to six years (Gobush et al., 2021). Due to their slow reproductive rate, population recovery is incredibly difficult, making conservation efforts even more urgent. Calves remain under their mother’s care for over a decade, learning crucial survival skills in the rainforest.
Geographic Range
African Forest Elephants roam vast home ranges, some spanning over 2,000 km² (Beirne et al., 2021). Their movements are largely dictated by fruiting cycles, water availability, and human encroachment. A recent study found that they exhibit remarkable individual variation in movement patterns—some acting as ‘explorers,’ roaming far and wide, while others remain within familiar territories (Beirne et al., 2021). Roads and logging concessions disrupt these traditional routes, forcing elephants into human settlements and escalating conflict.
Threats
- Illegal Wildlife Trade and Poaching: The illegal and criminal trade in elephant ivory continues to drive rampant poaching. Despite international bans, demand remains high in black markets (Wittemyer et al., 2014; Maisels et al., 2013).
- Palm Oil Agriculture Expansion: Forests are being obliterated for palm oil, cocoa, tobacco and rubber plantations, erasing habitat at an alarming rate (Scalbert et al., 2022).
- Logging, Mining, and Infrastructure Expansion: The development of roads and infrastructure for timber and mining grants poachers greater access to once-inaccessible forest areas (Beirne et al., 2021).
- Human-Elephant Conflict: Shrinking forests push elephants into farmland, leading to fatal clashes with farmers trying to protect their crops (Ngama et al., 2016).
- Climate Change: Disruptions in rainfall patterns and fruiting cycles impact the food supply of African Forest Elephants, forcing them into riskier migration routes where they can come into contact with poachers or conflict with farmers.
- Slow Reproduction Rate: African Forest Elephants have a long gestation periods and high calf mortality, their populations cannot recover quickly from losses.
Elephants and Language: Call Combinations and Syntax
Groundbreaking research has revealed that African Forest Elephants use complex call combinations, akin to human syntax, to communicate in high-stakes situations (Hedwig & Kohlberg, 2024). Their vocal repertoire includes:
- Low-frequency rumbles: Used to coordinate movements and social interactions. These deep sounds can travel several kilometres through dense rainforest.
- Broadband roars: Express distress, urgency, or aggression, particularly in response to predators or conflict.
- Combined calls: When rumbles and roars are merged, they create new meanings. These combinations are more frequently used in competitive situations, suggesting that elephants alter their vocal signals to convey specific messages in dangerous or high-emotion contexts.
The ability to combine calls strategically may help elephants navigate social disputes, secure access to resources, or reunite with separated family members. This discovery sheds light on the cognitive abilities of these animals and their sophisticated social lives.
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African Forest Elephants and Timber Concessions
Timber and palm oil concessions now cover vast portions of forest elephant habitat, with little understanding of how these logging operations impact elephant populations (Scalbert et al., 2022). While elephants can persist in selectively logged forests, they require large, undisturbed areas to sustain viable populations. Key findings include:
- African Forest Elephants regenerate forests: By dispersing seeds of high-carbon tree species, they facilitate the regrowth of timber species, making their role essential for maintaining the economic value of these forests.
- Logging alters movement patterns: While some elephants adapt to fragmented landscapes, others are displaced, forced into human-dominated areas where they are at greater risk of poaching and conflict.
- Forest loss drives ecological collapse: Without elephants maintaining seed dispersal, many commercially valuable trees may struggle to regenerate, ultimately degrading the timber industry’s long-term viability.
You can support this beautiful animal
Africa Conservation Foundation
Further Information
Beirne, C., Houslay, T. M., Morkel, P., Clark, C. J., Fay, M., Okouyi, J., White, L. J. T., & Poulsen, J. R. (2021). African forest elephant movements depend on time scale and individual behavior. Scientific Reports, 11, 12634. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91627-z
Gobush, K.S., Edwards, C.T.T, Maisels, F., Wittemyer, G., Balfour, D. & Taylor, R.D. 2021. Loxodonta cyclotis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T181007989A181019888. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T181007989A181019888.en. Downloaded on 08 June 2021.
Hedwig, D., & Kohlberg, A. (2024). Call combination in African forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299656
Scalbert, M., Vermeulen, C., Breuer, T., & Doucet, J. L. (2022). The challenging coexistence of forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis and timber concessions in central Africa. Mammal Review, 52(3), 501–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12305
African Forest Elephant Loxodonta cyclotis
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Africa #African #AfricanForestElephantLoxodontaCyclotis #Angola #Bantrophyhunting #Benin #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #BurkinaFaso #Cameroon #CentralAfricanRepublic #climatechange #cocoa #Congo #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #elephant #elephants #Forest #Gabon #Guinea #ivory #Mammal #Nigeria #Pachyderm #pachyderms #palmoil #poaching #pollination #pollinator #rainforests #SeedDispersers #SierraLeone #timber #tobacco #vegan #WestAfrica
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Western Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorilla
Mighty, intelligent and gentle Western Lowland Gorillas are well-loved apes, they are #critically endangered by #deforestation and habitat loss for #palmoil, cocoa and mining along with disease and illegal poaching in #Congo #Nigeria #Cameroon Help them to survive every time you shop! Join the #Boycott4Wildlife
Western Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorilla
Mighty and gentle Western Lowland Gorilla are well-loved apes 💌🦍, they are #critically endangered by #deforestation for #palmoil 🌴 #cocoa 🍫 in #Congo #Nigeria #Cameroon Help them to survive! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/07/10/western-lowland-gorilla-gorilla-gorilla/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterDespite superior intelligence and tight-knit families, Western Lowland #Gorillas 🦍 are critically #endangered by #palmoil and #tobacco #deforestation and #poaching 😓 Don’t let them vanish! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴💀🔥🚫 @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/07/10/western-lowland-gorilla-gorilla-gorilla/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterCritically Endangered
Angola (Cabinda); Cameroon; Central African Republic; Congo; Equatorial Guinea (Equatorial Guinea (mainland)); Gabon; Nigeria
Western Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorillaWestern Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorillaWestern Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorillaWestern Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorillaWestern Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorillaHabitat loss is emerging as a major threat to Western Gorillas. Other threats include disease and poaching. As oil-palm plantations in Asia reach capacity, Africa is becoming the new frontier for this crop, offering excellent economic prospects in countries with appropriate rainfall, soil and temperatures (Rival and Lavang 2014). Unfortunately, such areas coincide with good Gorilla habitat: 73.8% of the Western Lowland Gorilla’s range is considered suitable for oil palm (Wich et al. 2014).
IUCN red list
Western Lowland Gorillas are found in Angola (Cabinda enclave), Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), mainland Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni), Gabon, Nigeria and Republic of Congo. Until recently, the core population had an almost continuous distribution from southern CAR to the Congo River and west to the coast. Rivers are the primary geographic barrier for this taxon, followed by habitat fragmentation: the two subspecies are separated by a major river (the Sanaga), and Western Lowland Gorillas are divided into subpopulations by other major rivers in the region (Anthony et al. 2007, Fünfstück et al. 2014, Fünfstück and Vigilant 2015).
The northwestern limit of the western lowland subspecies distribution is the Sanaga River in Cameroon; the northern limit is the forest-savanna boundary to a maximum of roughly 6°N; the eastern limit is the Ubangi River; the Congo River south of its confluence with the Ubangi then becomes the southeastern and southern limits all the way to the coast. Small outlying populations of the Cross River subspecies remain on the Nigeria-Cameroon border at the headwaters of the Cross River and in the proposed Ebo National Park in Cameroon. Most Western Gorillas are found below 500 m asl, but those living on mountains occasionally reach elevations of 1,900 m asl.
Western Gorillas are diurnal and semi-terrestrial. They build nests to sleep in every night, usually on the ground but sometimes in trees. They are social and live in stable, cohesive groups composed of one “silverback” adult male, several adult females and their offspring. Gorillas are not territorial and group ranges overlap extensively.
Western Lowland Gorillas occur in both swamp and lowland forests throughout Western Equatorial Africa. They are especially common where ground vegetation is dominated by monocotyledonous plants. Their staple foods are leaves and shoots of the Marantaceae family, whereas fruit consumption varies greatly between seasons (Rogers et al. 2004). Some populations spend hours feeding on aquatic herbs in swamps. Social ants and termites are the only animal matter deliberately eaten. Group size averages 10, but is occasionally over 20 individuals, and annual home ranges are usually 10–25 km² (Williamson and Butynski 2013).
Male Western Gorillas take 18 years to reach full maturity, whereas females take around 10 years. Their length of the reproductive cycle is unknown. Infant mortality up to three years of age is 22–65%. Infants suckle for 4–5 years, causing lactational amenorrhea in the mother. Interbirth intervals are 4–6 years. Western Gorillas appear to reproduce more slowly than Eastern Gorillas (G. beringei). The maximum length of their lives is unknown but likely to be around 40 years. Generation time is estimated to be 22 years.
The recent expansion of industrial-scale mineral extraction and the creation of open-pit mines are of great concern (Edwards et al. 2014, Lanjouw 2014), and also lead to the establishment of development corridors, which can be several kilometres wide and add to areas of “lost forest” (Laurance et al. 2015). There is a disconnect between the various bodies responsible for land-use planning in the realms of conservation, mining and agriculture in all Western Gorilla range states except Gabon. Consequently, there is increasing competition for land between long-term conservation needs and immediate financial gain as governments explore the potential of clearing natural habitat in favour of economic development. Without careful and immediate land-use planning that involves cooperation between the government bodies responsible for protected areas and wildlife on one hand, and economic and agricultural development on the other, large areas of Western Lowland Gorilla habitat could be cleared within a few decades.
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Further Information
Maisels, F., Bergl, R.A. & Williamson, E.A. 2018. Gorilla gorilla (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T9404A136250858. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T9404A136250858.en. Downloaded on 06 June 2021.
Western Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorilla
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https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
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Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
The Democratic Republic of the Congo; Rwanda; Uganda
Endangered
Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
The Golden monkey Cercopithecus kandti are Old World monkeys that live nestled deeply into the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa. They are found in four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga and Kahuzi-Biéga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. They are restricted to highland forest.
The Golden Monkey is an #oldworld #monkey living in #volcanic #jungles of #Congo #Uganda #Rwanda. Human demand for #timber #palmoil has made them endangered. To help them, #Boycott4Wildlife the supermarket brands causing #deforestation
The largest part of the geographic range of the Golden Monkey is probably in Rwanda, followed by Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Forest in all three countries is seriously threatened by harvesting of trees and bamboo, clearance for agriculture, palm oil, charcoal production, and grazing of livestock.
IUCN red list
- Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
- Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
- Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
- Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
The Golden Monkey was previously thought to be a subspecies of the Blue Monkey. The two species look similar, although the Golden Monkey has a golden-orange patch on the upper flanks and back.
Not much is known about the Golden Monkey’s behaviour. They are highly social and live in troops of up to 30 individuals. They eat mostly bamboo, leaves and fruit, although have been known to also eat insects.
The human population growth rate is high in all three countries. Rwanda’s human population growth is 2.7% (PRB 2019). Rwanda’s population increased from 2.9 million people in 1960 (World Bank 2020) to 12.6 million people in 2019 (PRB 2019), and is projected to increase to 17.9 million by 2036 and to 23.0 million by 2050 (PRB 2019). The geographic range of Golden Monkey has, no doubt, decreased and fragmented greatly in recent decades as a result of human demands for forest products and land. From 2001 to 2018, Rwanda lost 320 km² of tree cover, or 6.4% of the nation’s tree cover in 18 years (GFW 2020).
Although the Golden Monkey mostly, if not entirely, within four protected areas, this subspecies remains threatened by habitat degradation, loss, and fragmentation and degradation. Illegal collection of bamboo and trees occurs at unsustainable levels in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Twinomugisha et al. 2003, Twinomugisha and Chapman 2008, Sheil et al. 2012). The illegal taking of forest products often occurs together with poaching (Sheil et al. 2012)
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Further Information
Butynski, T.M. & de Jong, Y.A. 2020. Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T4236A92571626. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T4236A92571626.en. Downloaded on 06 June 2021.
Golden Monkey Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti
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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
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Pledge your support#Africa #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #EndangeredSpecies #ForgottenAnimals #GoldenMonkeyCercopithecusMitisSspKandti #monkey #Primate #primates #Rwanda #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo #Uganda
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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The Rarest Rhino: The Two Last Northern White Rhinos of Kenya
The rarest rhino in the world can be found wallowing in the mud at the Ol Pejeta Nature Conservancy in Kenya. Constantly guarded by vigilant rifle-clad guards, these two animals have no idea that they are the last members of their kind. They are northern white rhinos – the very last northern white rhinos anywhere on Earth. They have been poached to the very edge of extinction, with virtually no hope for recovery.
These last two Northern White Rhinos are blissfully unaware that they are the last members of their kind in #Kenya a tragic tale of a disappearing species of #rhino by Jason @thenaturenook
The white rhino, paradoxically, is simultaneously both the rarest and commonest of all the world’s rhinos. If you consider the species as a whole, it is the only one that isn’t considered endangered (the IUCN classifies it as ‘Near Threatened’). However, all but two members of this species belong to the southern subspecies, of which roughly 20,000 individuals remain – far more than all the other four rhino species combined. The southern and northern white rhinos look remarkably similar, even if you stood them next to each other – although very trained eyes and scientific literature will tell you that their body proportions are slightly different and the northern white tends to hold its head a little higher.
The image above is of a southern white rhino. Although the two subspecies are genetically distinct, they interbred (and thus shared genes) as recently as 14,000 years ago, when grasslands expanded to bring their ranges closer together, before retreating again.
Image Source: Prosthetic HeadThe northern subspecies once roamed Africa in their thousands. But by the 1980s, intensive poaching had massively reduced their numbers, to the point that only around 15 wild individuals remained. In 2005, a survey found only four remaining animals, in the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Considering that the national park is in the middle of a seemingly relentless war zone, it’s unsurprising that only a few years later even these last individuals were gone.
A very small captive population remained but they rarely reproduced. In a last-ditch attempt to save the subspecies, four rhinos from Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic (the only reproductive animals of their kind left) were transported to Ol Pejeta Nature Conservancy in 2009, where they were monitored and protected round-the-clock by armed guards. It was hoped that being back in their natural habitat might stimulate these rhinos into breeding. Sadly, they never did. One of the four, a male, died in 2014 from natural causes. A year later, in 2015, the last two remaining northern white rhinos in captivity (one at Dvůr Králové Zoo; the other in San Diego Zoo), which were both elderly and unable to breed, also died, leaving the three living at Ol Pejeta Nature Conservancy – Sudan, Najin and Fatu – as the final representatives of their kind. But even these surviving animals – grandfather, mother and daughter – were too old, too ill, and too related to breed naturally.
Source:Sheep81In 2017, Ol Pejeta Conservancy teamed up with Tinder and Ogilvy Africa to launch a fundraising campaign in order to try and save the subspecies. They created a Tinder account for Sudan, the last remaining northern white rhino male. ‘I’m one of a kind,’ Sudan said on his profile. ‘No, seriously, I’m the last male white rhino on planet earth. I don’t mean to be too forward, but the fate of my species literally depends on us getting together. I like to eat grass and chill in the mud. No problems performing under pressure. 6ft tall and 5,000lbs if it matters.’ Tinder users could swipe right to make their donations for the development of new fertility treatment for the rhinos since all attempts to get them to mate naturally had failed.
But sadly, on 19 March 2018, Sudan was euthanised after suffering from age-related health issues, leaving only two ageing females left alive. Barring the existence of unknown or misclassified male northern white rhinos elsewhere in Africa, the subspecies is functionally already extinct.
The northern white rhino is probably the most endangered mammal on the planet right now. Only two known individuals survive, both of which are female. They are living their final days in semi-captivity in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
Image Source: Ray in ManilaBut there is one possible means of salvation.
Egg cells have been taken from both Najin and Fatu and, in August 2019, were artificially inseminated using the frozen sperm that had been extracted from the last northern white rhino males, before they had died. Two of the resulting embryos were viable. In January 2020, another embryo was created using the same technique. All three embryos have been placed in liquid nitrogen until they can be placed in a surrogate mother, almost certainly the closely related southern white rhino.
Is the northern white rhino too far gone? Is it simply in limbo, waiting for the inevitable confirmation that the species has become yet another casualty in the extinction event that is threatening biodiversity around the world? Or will advanced reproductive technologies allow for one of the greatest comebacks of all time?
By Nature Nook
Read more#Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #Kenya #nature #NatureNook #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo #TheNorthernWhiteRhino
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White-bellied Pangolin Phataginus tricuspis
White-bellied Pangolin Phataginus tricuspis
Endangered
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
Location: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Tanzania, ZambiaFound across the remaining fragments of West and Central African rainforest, the elusive White-bellied Pangolin is a nocturnal, arboreal insectivore whose very body has become a global commodity.
The White-bellied Pangolin also commonly known as the Tree Pangolin are fascinating creatures akin to giant pest controllers, estimated to consume around 70 million insects per year. #Pangolins don’t have teeth, rather they have scales lining their stomachs which aid them in the digestion of food that is swallowed whole. Baby pangolins often ride on their mother’s backs and and are known as pango pups. They are able to use their tails to support their body weight and can walk upright on their hind legs.
They are often captured and killed for the illegal #poaching trade in abandoned palm oil plantations in their native homelands in #WestAfrica. Now classified as #Endangered by the IUCN, White-bellied Pangolins face a terrifying future. The dual threats of industrial-scale trafficking and rampant #deforestation for agriculture—especially #palmoil plantations—are pushing them towards extinction Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
https://youtu.be/FnBYSGtzQ20?si=80-qlW_xbri9F5rG
White-bellied #Pangolins 🤎😻🙏 are threatened by #palmoil #cococa #meat #deforestation and #poaching. These amazing animals can walk upright on their hind legs🐾 Help them when you shop be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil 🌴⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/18/white-bellied-pangolin-phataginus-tricuspis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterMeek and gentle white-bellied #pangolins are ruthlessly hunted for their scales which have ZERO medicinal value. A growing threat is #palmoil 🌴🪔🤢and #tobacco 🚭 #deforestation. Help them survive! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/18/white-bellied-pangolin-phataginus-tricuspis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAppearance and Behaviour
With their bodies armoured in keratin scales and their gentle, silent movements through the treetops, white-bellied pangolins have been described as one of the most extraordinary yet most misunderstood creatures on Earth.
Also known as the African Tree Pangolin, these slender and shy mammals are covered head to tail in overlapping, pale brown or yellowish scales made entirely of keratin. These scales provide formidable protection against predators, curling into a ball when threatened—a defence mechanism that unfortunately makes them easy targets for poachers. Adults typically weigh between 1.5 to 2.5 kilograms and grow to about 30 to 40 cm in body length, with tails often longer than their bodies to aid climbing.
Although often thought of as ground-dwelling, White-bellied Pangolins are superb climbers, capable of scaling tall trees with ease. Their prehensile tails help them balance while they forage along branches. They are largely nocturnal, solitary creatures, most active in the dark hours of night when they hunt for ants and termites. Motion-activated camera traps in West and Central African forests have shown them traversing forest floors and climbing high into the canopy, displaying surprising agility and adaptability (Akpona et al., 2008).
Social encounters are rare and brief, usually related to mating. White-bellied pangolins are silent and secretive, with subtle olfactory communication being their primary form of interaction. Even within protected areas, their presence is more often indicated by signs—like feeding holes or scat—than by direct sightings. Despite this elusiveness, they are now frequently detected in bushmeat markets across the region, highlighting the immense pressure they are under (Boakye et al., 2016).
Diet
White-bellied Pangolins feed exclusively on social insects—primarily ants and termites—which they locate using an acute sense of smell. Once prey is detected, they use their powerful, curved claws to tear open nests and extract insects using a long, sticky tongue that can extend more than 25 cm. Unlike other insectivores, they have no teeth; instead, they rely on their muscular stomach to grind food.
Their diet makes them ecological engineers, playing a critical role in controlling ant and termite populations and aerating soil through their foraging activity. This insectivorous diet also makes them highly vulnerable to habitat degradation, since many of their preferred prey species are sensitive to disturbance and disappear from logged or converted lands. A recent survey in the Oluwa Forest Reserve found that pangolin presence was strongly correlated with the abundance of ant and termite mounds, both of which are declining due to increasing land use (Adeniji et al., 2023).
Reproduction and Mating
Pangolins have slow reproductive rates. Females typically give birth to a single offspring after a gestation of around 150 days. Newborns are tiny, weighing around 80-100 grams, with soft, pink scales that harden over time. Young are known as ‘Pango Pups’. For the first few weeks, infants are carried on their mother’s tail, clinging tightly as she forages.
Breeding appears to occur year-round, though data is scarce. Most pangolin offspring are likely born during periods of high insect availability. Observations in Gabon have noted that most adult females encountered during field surveys were pregnant or nursing, suggesting near-continuous breeding potential (Pagès, 1975). However, due to intense poaching, pregnant and nursing pangolins are disproportionately removed from the wild, further destabilising populations.
Geographic Range
Phataginus tricuspis is the most widespread of all African pangolin species, ranging from Guinea-Bissau and Senegal in the west to north-western Tanzania and northern Angola in the east and south. It is present in at least 23 countries. Despite this wide distribution, populations are heavily fragmented, and many former strongholds—especially in West Africa—have seen local extinctions or drastic declines.
In Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, intensive habitat conversion for logging, agriculture, and urban development has devastated forests, and pangolins are now rare outside protected areas. Studies in Osun and Ondo States have shown sharp declines even in conservation areas due to poaching and ineffective law enforcement (Owolabi et al., 2024; Adeniji et al., 2023). The Yaoundé bushmeat markets in Cameroon have been identified as key hubs for trafficking pangolins sourced from up to 600 km away, revealing the extent of illegal harvesting across Central Africa (Dipita et al., 2024).
Threats
Forests are disappearing rapidly in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their strongholds, while pangolin scales are being smuggled in tonnes across continents. With an estimated 0.4–2.7 million pangolins hunted annually in Central Africa alone, and seizures of their scales numbering in the hundreds of thousands of individuals, this species is in crisis (Ingram et al., 2018; Challender et al., 2019).
White-bellied Pangolins were often caught in abandoned or little-used oil palm plantations.
IUCN Red List
- Wildlife Trafficking: Phataginus tricuspis is the most trafficked African pangolin species. Between 2013 and 2019, an estimated 400,000 individuals were killed for their scales alone (Challender et al., 2019).
- Traditional Medicine and Bushmeat: Pangolins are widely consumed across West Africa and used in traditional rituals and pseudo medicine, particularly in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon (Soewu & Ayodele, 2009).
- Palm Oil Deforestation: Industrial palm oil expansion is a major driver of forest loss throughout the species’ range. In Nigeria and Cameroon, pangolins are losing critical habitat to monoculture plantations (Adeniji et al., 2023).
- Habitat Fragmentation: Rapid human population growth and road expansion are isolating forest patches and making pangolins more accessible to poachers (Owolabi et al., 2024).
Take Action!
Boycott palm oil products to help save the White-bellied Pangolin and the forests they depend on. Support grassroots and indigenous-led conservation efforts in West and Central Africa. Demand stricter enforcement against wildlife trafficking and campaign online against the use of pangolins in traditional medicine. Use your wallet as a weapon and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
FAQs
How many White-bellied Pangolins are left in the wild?
There is no precise global population estimate due to their elusive nature and widespread poaching. However, local studies and market data suggest the species is in steep decline. In Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, hunters now consider the species to be rare or extirpated from many former habitats (Akpona et al., 2008; Ingram et al., 2018).
Why are pangolins hunted?
They are hunted for meat, traditional medicine, spiritual rituals, and increasingly, for international markets in China and Vietnam where their scales are used in pseudo-medicinal compounds. Scales from at least 200,000 pangolins were trafficked between 2015 and 2019 (Challender et al., 2019).
Do palm oil plantations affect pangolins?
Yes. The conversion of natural forest to palm oil monocultures destroys their habitat, reduces food sources, and makes pangolins more vulnerable to hunting. In southern Nigeria, White-bellied Pangolins were once found even in degraded farms, but monocultures support fewer ants and termites, removing their core diet (Sodeinde & Adedipe, 1994).
Do pangolins make good pets?
Absolutely not. Pangolins are solitary, wild animals with highly specialised diets. They cannot survive long in captivity, and the illegal pet trade drives their extinction. Keeping them as pets is cruel and ecologically devastating.
White-bellied Pangolin Phataginus tricuspis
Further Information
Adeniji, A. E., Ejidike, B. N., Olaniyi, O. E., & Akala, V. T. (2023). Distribution and threat to white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) in Oluwa Forest Reserve, Ondo State, Nigeria. Journal of Research in Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, 15(2). https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jrfwe/article/view/252333
Dipita, A. D., Missoup, A. D., Aguillon, S., Lecompte, E., Momboua, B. R., Chaber, A. L., … & Gaubert, P. (2024). Genetic tracing of the illegal trade of the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) in western Central Africa. Scientific Reports, 14, 13131. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63666-9
Ingram, D. J., Coad, L., Abernethy, K. A., Maisels, F., Stokes, E. J., Bobo, K. S., … & Simo, M. (2018). Assessing Africa-wide pangolin hunting pressures and trade. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6, 25. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12389
Owolabi, B. A., Akinsorotan, O. A., Adewumi, A. A., & Sanusade, A. O. (2024). Locals’ perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes regarding the conservation of the critically endangered Phataginus tricuspis. ResearchSquare. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3944447/v1
Pietersen, D., Moumbolou, C., Ingram, D.J., Soewu, D., Jansen, R., Sodeinde, O., Keboy Mov Linkey Iflankoy, C., Challender, D. & Shirley, M.H. 2019. Phataginus tricuspis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12767A123586469. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12767A123586469.en. Downloaded on 17 January 2021.
Soewu, D. A., & Ayodele, I. A. (2009). Utilization of pangolins in traditional Yorubic medicine in Ijebu province, Ogun State, Nigeria. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 5, 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-5-39
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