Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 11 2007 | By: admin

Dzanga Bai: Southern End

The Dzanga clearing is often referred to as Dzanga bai, bai being the local Bayaka word for forest clearing. These clearings are numerous in this part of the Congo Basin and where they are protected from poachers and other human activity attract wildlife providing the best “window” in the forest. Bais are usually found along rivers and vary in surface area. The main attraction to wildlife is the availability of mineral salts which lie beneath the surface of these clearings. The minerals are accessed in several ways, one being by excavation, elephants being the most adept at this. They use their feet like shovels kicking away surface soil creating huge holes which expose the mineral layer. The other way elephants access the minerals is by pumping with their trunks through the surface water to the mineral layer. This in the more difficult way of getting minerals and since the biggest males dominate the best mineral holes, females and their offspring as well as younger males are observed vigorously pumping through the water in search of minerals. During the wetter parts of the years when it is impossible to dig big holes in the bai because of the continuous rain, fewer males are observed in the bai. I tend to think for the large males pumping through the surface water is difficult because their long tusks get in the way.

Bongo Male and Female

Elephants are the dominant animals at Dzanga bai but other species of forest mammals are also observed on a regular basis. After elephant the most commonly observed species is the sitatunga, a species of forest antelope which prefers the wetter parts of the forest. The females are reddish in color while the adult males are a chocolate brown. The most spectacular species is the bongo, the largest species of forest antelope. They are observed in groups ranging from six to thirty individuals and are made up of females and their offspring. Males are seen periodically in the groups looking for estrous females. We also observe the two species of forest pigs: giant forest hog and the red river hog. They also are observed in the clearing where they skirt the edges avoiding the elephants. The pig species serve as the main scavengers in the forest and we have observed them feeding on elephant carcasses.

Bais not only serve the nutritional needs of animals but also serve as centers of social activitiy for forest animals. At Dzanga we witness a myriad of social behavior which is otherwise impossible to observe in the forest environment.

Forest Buffalo

Share This