Although the civil war, which broke out in early June 1997, was limited primarily to the capital city Brazzaville and neighboring districts, most of the ECOFAC field staff was evacuated. At this writing, research at the Lossi Forest (North Congo) continues for the 3rd year focusing on the ecology and behaviour of western lowland gorillas. Moreover, the ECOFAC project (funded by the European Union) continues developing a pilot gorilla viewing tourism plan the aim of which is to create benefits for the local community in order to achieve long-term conservation of gorillas An area of about 320 km2 will be classed as a Gorilla Sanctuary. The ability of eco-tourism to provide a sustainable income for local communities played an important part in the up-grading of the legal status of part of the future Sanctuary. At present, hunting occurs only incidentally on peripheral areas of the Sanctuary, and is limited to subsistence levels.
Gorilla viewing can be guaranteed in the study area. There are many problems to be addressed in protecting large animals such as gorillas outside protected areas because people are frightened of gorillas, and gorillas sometimes raid crops. The myths referred to in the traditional legends can provide a guiding tool to manage resources in a manner that motivate local people. The people of Lengui-Lengui, the stakeholders of this forest, have a long way to go, but during the course of political instability they have shown a willpower in order to support the natural conditions of the Lossi Forest. The new conservation initiatives will combine established methods with innovative approaches to achieve truly sustainable development and better protection of biodiversity. Efforts to protect and conserve gorillas cannot be standardised as the effectiveness of each approach depends on physical, cultural and economic factors that vary from country to country.
The work at Lossi not only allows the important development of eco-tourism, but also greatly enhances our scientific knowledge of western lowland gorillas. Observation conditions in tropical rain forest habitats are rarely ideal. However, two habituated groups in Lossi Forest allow outstanding observations of gorillas and knowledge of unexplored behaviour (for description of the preliminary results see GCN no. 11). During the last 7 months of observations (June – December 1998) lowland gorillas have been observed for a total of 310 hours. Monitoring of the gorillas has continued seven days a week. The knowledge of feeding ecology and the location and fruiting patterns of important tree species can be used to maximise clear observation of gorillas. This is relevant both to research and to eco-tourism. From June 5 – November 10 we were able to track a third group of gorillas, collecting data on over 235 night nests. Our preliminary results show that there are 18 individuals in the group composed of 1 silverback male, 6 adult females, 2 subadults, 5 juveniles and 4 infants.
Lossi appears to be the site of a village abandoned 60 years ago where it is possible to verify the impacts that human settlements have on the floral richness of this forest. Marantaceae forest covers what is possibly one of the most extensive areas in central Africa. We listed 650 plant species, belonging to 116 families and 447 genera, that occur in the study area in Lossi forest. Another 351 plant species have yet to be identified. The food plants of gorillas (187 species belonging to 48 families) and chimpanzees (91 species belonging to 32 families) were collected intensively and compared with other study sites of great apes. (Bermejo et al., in press). Chimpanzees and gorillas are known to only infrequently ingest the wood of various plant species ( Huffman et al.,1998). Gorillas in Lossi, however, quite often ate the rotten wood of Pycnanthus marchalianus, Cleistopholis patens and Mitragina stipulosa.. These plant species were also present in Ndoki forest but not eaten by gorillas (MoutsambotÇ et al.,1994). Why western lowland gorillas ingest wood in Lossi forest is complex and simple answers remain elusive. However, from analysis of chemical composition and natural features of the wood consumed by the gorillas it would appear that carbohydrates are a reason to eat the wood.
Data gathered from tracking gorillas consistently during their day-range are contributing to a better understanding of interesting questions about the lowland gorillas behaviour. Following is an observation of interest which occurred during 1998. On October 10, 1998 one young adult male was observed using a stick as tool to reach food that was beyond its reach (Bermejo, submitted). The data describe the first reported case of tool-using behaviour to obtain food by a wild gorilla. Long-term observations are needed to confirm that this behaviour may be a habitual group wide behaviour at Lossi. Further studies on the gorillas at the Lossi Forest should contribute to a better understanding of unknown aspects of the cognitive ability of gorillas.
Core funding for conservation at Lossi came from ECOFAC (Project FED, EU DG VIII). We thank especially J.M. Froment, ECOFAC-Congo project leader, and C. Aveling, project coordinator, for its assistance and encouragement. The continued cooperation of Z. Okoko, P. Balo, D. Mbomo, and G. Ngouvou who have tracked gorillas with us at Lossi, is gratefully acknowledged.
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