Wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo includes its flora and fauna, comprising a large biodiversity in rainforests, seasonally flooded forests and grasslands. Wildlife is threatened by overhunting for bushmeat.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the only country in the world in which bonobos are found in the wild
Bas-Congo landscape.

The country is considered one of the 17 megadiverse nations. Its rainforests harbour many rare and endemic species, such as the chimpanzee and the bonobo. Five of the country's national parks are listed as World Heritage Sites: the Garumba, Kahuzi-Biega, Salonga and Virunga National Parks, and Okapi Wildlife Reserve. All five sites are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage In Danger.

The civil war and resultant poor economic conditions have endangered much of this biodiversity. Many park wardens were either killed or could not afford to continue their work.

Fauna
Main article: List of mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The ecoregion is home to the endangered western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), the endangered eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla berengei graueri), African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), and okapi (Okapia johnstoni).

Animals native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

Congo peacock

Butterflies
Main article: List of butterflies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

See also

References
  1. Plumptre, A.J., Kujirakwinja, D., Treves, A., Owiunji, I. and Rainer, H. (2007). "Transboundary conservation in the greater Virunga landscape: its importance for landscape species". Biological Conservation. 134 (2): 279–287. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.012.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.