scholarly journals Conserving Pan paniscus in the Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gay E. Reinartz
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Pan Paniscus ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Republic Of Congo

scholarly journals A survey of bonobos and other large mammals in the Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Oryx ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Van Krunkelsven ◽  
Inogwabini Bila lsia ◽  
Dirk Draulans
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Pan Paniscus ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Forest Reserve ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
The Status ◽  
Line Transects ◽  
Set Up

AbstractIn December 1997 and January 1998 we travelled to the northern section of the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The park is the largest African rain forest reserve, and was created in 1970 to protect endemic species such as the bonobo Pan paniscus and the Congo peacock Afropavo congensis. However, hardly any data exist on the status of animals in the park. In order to collect basic information, we set up camp at four sites along two rivers, where we followed long trails deep into the forest. A total of 7.5 km line transects were cut from three sites, along which all evidence of large mammals was recorded. Our data indicate that key forest species, including bonobo, bongo Tragelaphus euryceros, black mangabey Lophocebus alterimus and leopard Panthera pardus, are present in reasonable numbers in the part of the park we explored. Bonobo density was calculated at 1.15 animals per sq km, based on nest counts. Some elephants Loxodonta africana survive, despite the enormous hunting pressure. Conservation measures to protect the animals need to be taken urgently.

Habituating field scientists

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 833-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lys Alcayna-Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Pan Paniscus ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Scientific Field ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
The World ◽  
Environmental Milieu ◽  
Free Ranging

This article explores the sensory dimensions of scientific field research in the only region in the world where free-ranging bonobos ( Pan paniscus) can be studied in their natural environment; the equatorial rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. If, as sensory anthropologists have argued, the senses are developed, grown and honed in a given cultural and environmental milieu, how is it that field scientists come to dwell among familiarity in a world which is, at first, unfamiliar? This article builds upon previous anthropological and philosophical engagements with habituation that have critically examined primatologists’ attempts to become ‘neutral objects in the environment’ in order to habituate wild apes to their presence. It does so by tracing the somatic modes of attention developed by European and North American researchers as they follow bonobos in these forests. The argument is that as environments, beings and their elements become familiar, they do not become ‘neutral’, but rather, suffused with meaning.

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