| Full Name of Site | Mikongo site |
| Country | Gabon, Africa, Ogoué-Ivindo province |
| Location of base camp | 0°17’-0°20’S;11°38’-11°43’E (Bermejo, 2000) |
| Status | Faunal reserve |
| Area- study area | Size of study area: 45km² |
| Size of entire reserve: 5360km² | |
| Study Period | 1999-2001 |
| Focus of Project | Improvement of the forest fauna vision for the development of |
| ecotourism in Gabon. Habituation of WLG families. | |
| Altitude | 300m |
| Rainfall | 1500mm |
| 17km to Mikongo site | |
| Research Presence | At the present time, several teams are working in the |
| field (including four gabonese trackers) | |
| to insure tracking of gorillas. Research program is trying | |
| to be developed but not permanently. | |
| Habituation | In general, gorillas show a good reaction (great curiosity) |
| faced with human presence. | |
| Types of questions? | The links between the gorillas diet and ranging. |
| Study of the gorillas behaviour observed during habituation. | |
| We also had the occasion to note the disadvantages of such a | |
| project on the gorillas behaviour. | |
| Conservation Projects? | Ecotourism based on fauna vision (to increase incomes for the reserve, participation from local communities and public awareness); involvement in reserve management (in organising tourist tour in the area insuring permanent presence to dissuade poaching). |
| Species studied in addition to WLGs | Vegetation of the reserve (WCS-SEGC); mandrills (CIRMF); biodiversity of snails (MNHN-Paris); Megatransect 2000 (WCS, Mike Fay). |
| Distance to closest village in km | 10 km from Mikongo village. |
| Types of vegetation present at Site | |
| savanna | absence |
| gallery forest | absence |
| previously logged secondary forest | presence |
| streambed | presence |
| open understory forest (Primary) | presence |
| monodominant (Gilbertiodendron) | absence |
| Light gaps | presence |
| Marantaceae forest | presence |
| Swamp Forest | presence |
| Bais | absence |
| Mammalian community | |
| chimpanzees | presence; monthly |
| elephants | presence; (weekly indeed daily during the rainy season) |
| buffalo | presence; not very frequent |
| monkeys | |
| Cercopithecus cephus | common |
| Cercopithecus pogonias | common |
| Cercopithecus nictitans | abundant |
| Colobus satanas | abundant |
| Lophocebus albigena | abundant |
| Mandrillus sphinx | frequent (daily during the breeding period) |
| red river hog | presence (between weekly and monthly) |
| giant forest hog | absence |
| Human Influence | |
| selective logging | presence (Acoumea klaineana was exploited 20 years ago) |
| hunting (snares. Traces, shots fired) | Several times poachers, old cartridges, shots heard; never snares. gorillas a target? |
| gorillas a target? | It does not seem gorilla is targeted in hunting. |
| agriculture- distance to nearest field | not within the study site |
| tourism | Not during the first months (1999-2000), regularly until September 2001 (15 times in 7 months) than officially open for tourism. |
| predators | Panthera pardus |
| Methods Used | |
| Indirect evidence (trail, feces) | yes |
| Nest to nest tracking | yes but irregular |
| Direct behavioral sampling | yes |
| focal subject sampling | no |
| Contact Information | Marie-Laure KLEIN, Magdalena BERMEJO |
| Bibliography | M. BERMEJO, 2000. Programme d’amélioration de la vision faune dans la Réserve de Faune de la Lopé, Gabon. Rapport final, février 2000. Environment and Development Group (EDG). M.-L. KLEIN, 2002. Influence of food availability on gorillas ranging at the site of Mikongo, Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Western Lowland Gorilla Conference, 19.-25. May 2002 in Leipzig, Max Planck Institute. L. WHITE and K. ABERNETHY, 1996. Guide de la Vegetation de la Réserve de Faune de la Lopé, Gabon. Ecosystemes Forestiers d Afrique Centrale (ECOFAC-Gabon). |