The Ituri Forest is above the Congo. All the water running through its rocks and over its duff, spill into rivers that cascade down the eastern plateau towards the massive Congo River of the central basin.

The Nduye joins the Epulu. The Epulu and the Nepoko join the Ituri. The Ituri joins the Congo and the Congo joins the Atlantic.

The Ituri Forest has the densest concentration of the Pygmy ethnic group in all of Congo. There are about 10,000 Mbuti pygmies just living in and around the Okapi Reserve (estimate by WCS).  Their knowledge of this forest is remarkable, but very local; almost none have even crossed the Ituri River to the south.

Nevertheless, the Mbuti of the Ituri are of the same group as the Pygmies of the central basin in the west, and of Albertine rift close to Tanzania. They are united by music. Each group speaks a different, often unrelated language. But long ago, in Epulu, when we played a recording of pygmy song from 900 km distant, the Mbuti all gathered around. It was as though the forest was singing.

A light rain blurred the photo, but not the energy of clapping sticks, drums, singing and dancing.

On our return from the inselbergs we were swept into the celebration following the death of two old friends: Makubasi one of the long time Mbuti chiefs of Epulu and the wife of another chief, Mayali Mingi.

The end of mourning is marked by celebration, song, and dance. Death needs song…

…For the old…

…for the young…

…for the close of kin.  The son of Makubasi sings with the others.

Somehow the swell and breaking of voices in hocket, the alternating rhythms of the drums that continued almost none stop for 24 hours, reminds us how to live – with each other – and with all that went before and all that will come after.

Here is a little photo record of the celebration.

Related posts:

1. Can Congo’s Forest Support Pygmy Hunter-Gathers?

View from the wrinkled brow of an inselberg.

The last decade has been hard on the Okapi Reserve. Illegal Miners. Poachers! The elephant population was nearly cut in half during the first years of this century. Even the solitary Okapi was heavily poached.

Rosmarie Ruf has been caring for okapis in Epulu since the late-1980s.

Only a year and a half ago, two guards were shot down when they confronted elephant poachers. And the year before that more guards were similarly lost. But recently, the Okapi Reserve received new assistance through the German bank.  The German ambassador wanted to see what was happening on the ground; therefore, our annual bicycle ride was through the Ituri Forest.

The Okapi Reserve, a World Heritage Site in DR Congo’s northeastern Ituri Forest.

Besides, I wanted to see the strange granite outcrops in the northern Reserve. Despite living in Epulu, the center of the Reserve, for 15 years, I never visited the inselbergs.

We bicycled along the eastern limit of the Reserve to an inselberg zone (yellow rectangle).

New plant species have been discovered in the inselbergs and these hills have the densest mammal abundance of the whole Reserve. Fifteen years ago the inselbergs with surrounding forest were recommended for an upgrade to national park.

Our camp leaders, Ephrem and Gilbert, in front of Encephalartos ituriensis, a cycad species endemic to the Ituri inselbergs.

First we shipped the bikes to Kisangani, then we met up in Epulu, 460 km further east. Sounds easy but the condition of the rented van and the state of the road, assured that nothing would be simple.

The ambassador waits while the van is being repaired, yet again.

Bafwasende: already late, all red with road dust, but the van is fixed. That is worth a toast.

The German project in Epulu loaned us a much better vehicle—thank you! We drove on to Mambasa in relative comfort.

Relative comfort in the German-aid (GFA) van, I actually slept a good part of the way. 

More photos of road trip here.

We gathered up the rest of the team at the Catholic Mission in Mambasa.

Père Sylvano of the Catholic Mission in Mambasa has a wonderful, long story. It will be another post. Here he is with one of the many orphaned children he cares for.

The next day we pedaled.

The first stretch north is occasionally travelled by 4-wheel vehicles as far as the satellite mission, Nduye, maintained by Père Sylvano.

We easily passed the other bicyclists -or tolekistes – that were on the road and the main transport vehicles.

We climbed along the east side of the Reserve, through the lands first of the Lese Karo and then of the Lese Dese.

Chef Sukari, chief of the Lese-Dese, held court with ambassador Peter and his wife, Sabine.

Beyond Nduye there was no longer even the possibility of a four-wheel vehicle.

The only tracks were bicycle tracks, and the red clay was often treacherously slick.

Rest stop after a long uphill.

That night we were at the farthest Ranger post – Nzaro

Nzaro…

More photos of the bicycle trip here.

The next day the hike began. We walked west into the inselbergs. Including porters, we became a caravan.

Caravan through the forest…

Caravan over the inselbergs…

Chef Sukari had recommended the Efe, Antoine, as our guide.

The local Efe hunter, Antoine, led our caravan to his farthest camp where he poses with Sabine and me.

The Efe, however, are archers not net hunters like the Mbuti Pygmies in Epulu. The Efe do not roam far to hunt and the second night Antoine said that we were now at his farthest honey camp. He did not know the “vilima” or inselbergs further west. In fact we saw no human sign farther west.

Lucy had to cook for a lot of people.

Jesse cutting a precious lemon in “Camp Antoine” for the carefully rationed pre-dinner drinks.

Antoine and a Park Guard ponder “Google Earth” from a distance.

John had brought his computer. With a combination of google earth, GPS and compass we found our way to the inselberg we later named Kilima Mtu, or Person Mountain.

A stone guardian monitors the forest below.

It had four boulder sentries on top looking out over the forest in four different directions.

Scaling the slippery sides of Kilima Mutu was done slowly…

There was something at once mysterious and almost magical about all the inselbergs… and this last one in particular.

The baboons were more curious than fearful.

We found a pottery shard on an altar-like stone in one rock shelter. How old was it? Who had left it?

On the very top of Kilima Mutu, there were springs welling up from beneath rocks; in the valleys of its inselberg arms there were little grassy patches trampled by elephants and there was okapi dung in the shade of its amazingly rugged trees.

Inselberg view.

And the “watu” , or stone people, at the top, watch over the forests in all directions. May they keep this place safe and may it soon become a national park.

A Google Earth close-up of the forest we walked to get to Kilima Mutu.

More photos of the inselbergs and hike to get there are here.

About the Okapi Reserve: It became a World Heritage Site in 1996 and, a year later, was given global “threatened” status with the outbreak of civil war. It is still on the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger. Its renown is not only the forest giraffe, or okapi, but also the large populations of still forest-dependent Efe and Mbuti pygmies. If the forest becomes impoverished, their way of life is imperiled. When first nominated to the World Heritage List, it was assumed the Okapi Reserve would soon become a National Park. The war is over, but not the rush to grab Congo’s resources. The Conservation partners of the Okapi Reserve (ICCN, WCS, GIC, and GFA) have suggested an inner sanctum that would include the inselbergs. This now needs national legal status, a lobby from all levels to make it a national park.

Credits go to the whole bike ‘n hike team including the German Ambassador and his wife, Peter and Sabine Blomeyer, their friend from Germany, Frank Oberlaender (particular thanks for his great portraits and other photos), a young bike and drum buff from the USA, Jesse Brooke. There were John and I from the Lomami National Park (soon-to-be Park, anyway) and Joel Masselink, a map expert from the Okapi Reserve. Key were our guides, team leader and tracker from the TL2, Ephrem Mpaka and Gilbert Paluku. Logistician: Robert Abani. And of course the cooks, Lucy and Mbinza Sira.

Frank zeroing in on a millipede.

No related posts.

The answer to this apparently simple question is far from straightforward:

Example: Imagine you dive into a murky sea. You are counting a certain kind of fish; you must identify a particular flash of bronze in the mix of silvers and blues. A brief glimpse and it’s gone into the depths. If you swim a straight line, or a series of straight lines, is there a way of estimating the total number of these fish in the sea just by counting those brief glimpses?

Apparently yes – but not simple.

Nor is it simple for Bonobos: we rarely see them. What we are more likely to see is dung, their nests where they spent a night, the remnants of a meal where they ripped stalks to get the tasty pulp, or perhaps we hear their calls off in the murky depths of the TL2 forest. So what do we count along the straight line – the transect line. Where do we put the lines and how many? Read-on below…

A first basic question: what do we mean by “the forest”, the TL2 forest, where we are looking for bonobo? It, too, is a vast sea. [reminder: TL2 stands for three large river basins, the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba, where they flow north in parallel through the forested heart of DR Congo] Trees cover 9,500 km² in the new Lomami National Park with at least as many square kilometers of surrounding bonobo forest. But this is no uniform sea. In some places the forest has many bonobo nests, in other areas only a few. How do we take that patchiness into account when we estimate the size of the bonobo population? Read-on below…

Map 1.  This map shows the vast region, framed by three rivers, about which we knew so little. At the outset we defined an area of over 40,000 km² centered on the Lomami River and bounded by the upper Tshuapa watershed to the west, and the Lualaba Congo to the east. We baptized the area, TL2.

Walking the line

At its most basic, a line transect is a compass-oriented line of travel, from one defined point to another, along which observations are made, counted and measured from where they occur to the line.

Line transect counts require an approach to observation that is premised on the assumption that we are most likely to see what is close to us and less likely what is farther away, and, crucially, that we see all that is located directly in front of us, on the transect line.

Dino taking notes while leading a transect team. Easy to imagine that visibility drops off quickly in this forest.

Line transects allow population density estimates – in the sea or in the forest. This post describes how we designed our bonobo transect surveys, where we placed them in the TL2 forest and what we looked for while walking the line.

Walking the line – where and how many?

Many decisions are made before work begins. Where will we put the transect lines, how many? The number or intensity of line transects in an area is “survey effort”. Survey effort is expressed as the number of lines per area or their total length (km) per unit area.

The first important decision for our survey is to define the forest region that constitutes the survey area. How far can we extend our results and conclusions? Wherever we extend them it is with the assumption that the conditions that affect animal numbers are the same as those that we found in our survey area. Unfortunately hunting intensity varies, forest composition and bonobo food plants change – so, always, the preferred solution is to conduct more surveys, put out more transects to cover more area.

Walking the line – design

Once we decide on our survey area, we need to decide how to deploy our survey effort (design). This is always constrained by availability of time and resources to conduct the fieldwork. Thus a good design is a compromise that provides the most reliable results possible within the known project limits.

A good survey design achieves two objectives:

The first objective: Un-biased survey coverage that is “representative”, meaning it provides results that correspond with the true locations and numbers of bonobos. We want to know the way bonobos are distributed: widespread at low density or aggregated. A good design should take into account information we already have such as the locations of favored or avoided habitats as well as the occurrence of human influences such as hunting.

Map 2.  We use reconnaissance surveys or “recces” to cover large areas quickly and give a first overview of where different animals and human activities occur before setting up a transect design. This map shows hunting sign along recces in the first exploratory phase of the TL2 surveys.

We do not want our survey to inadvertently cover areas with more animals and avoid areas where they do not occur. We generally survey other species along with bonobos and each species is affected differently by habitat and by humans. Our best option is to place our transects either randomly or systematically, with a randomly selected starting point. This way we cover the survey area so that any point within its limits has an a priori equal probability to be covered by a transect. The survey results of this design are representative and can be analyzed statistically.

Map 3a. The line transects that we followed in the southern bonobo sector and in the central elephant sector of the TL2 landscape (see NOTE 1 below).

Map 3b.  The transects actually followed are chosen randomly from this map of possible transect lines. They are then located in the forest with GPS. (see NOTE 2 below)

The second objective: A design that provides results sufficiently precise to answer our question: how many bonobos in a given area? The most important factor affecting the “survey effort” needed for precision is the variability we encounter in our observations. Highly variable results require more effort to reach acceptably precise estimates.

Since our transect lines are a sample of many possible locations, we use statistical power analysis to estimate how large a sample of transects (how much effort) is needed to provide reliable results. We often base this on information from earlier surveys or a preliminary data set. See Map 2.

Our approach to precision has some analogy to pixel density in a photo. Small pixel size gives a fine image, but we need a lot of these pixels to get the entire picture. Sometimes a coarser image is adequate. In sampling, the more we look and the finer the grain of our search, the more precise our results will be. But high-density coverage takes a lot of effort. It may not be possible to deploy that over an entire survey area. What we really want is efficient coverage that allows us “to see the picture” at sufficient resolution.

Walking the line – what we look for and who looks for it.

We would like to count bonobos themselves. We seldom see them, but that is not the problem. The real problem is we don’t know why we don’t see them more often. Is it because they are rare or are they just shy? Perhaps we pass them undetected or, they detect us and leave quietly before we are close enough to notice. As bonobos become more habituated to our presence in their forest we are likely to see them more often. Thus differences in encounters of live bonobos on line transects may be a function of differences in their tolerance, not just in their numbers.

All bonobos, except infants, construct nests each night, and sometimes nests to rest in during the day. Nests don’t move and observers can learn to consistently see them. So rather than count bonobos, we count bonobo nests.

Bonobo nest in the TL2 forest

We solve one problem, but we get another….how do we convert nest numbers to bonobo numbers. More on that in the next “How many bonobos” post.

Duiker dung spotted on a transect line. Photos of all observations, allows them to be cross-checked later.

Bonobos were a primary objective for our surveys ,but they are not our only concern. We want to be able to evaluate the distribution of other large mammals: elephants, duikers, pigs, monkeys and human activities. In TL2 human presence is detected by hunting sign.

A black fronted duiker caught in a snare and still struggling.

So along our transect lines, in addition to bonobo nests, we also count a wide range of other animals’ sign (dung, feeding, tracks). Monkeys we actually count directly. We measure distance to these and to indicators of hunting activity, including animal snares, hunting camps, active trail crossings, and spent shot gun cartridges. Because this requires a lot of attention, we walk the line with two or three observers.

Henri is yielding the compass and GPS on this transect with pisteur in front and observers behind.

Our field assistants are skilled naturalists; many are experienced hunters. When they are in the forest they observe widely and continuously – like any good hunter. They note the faintest rustle of disturbed foliage and split second glimpses of retreating animals.

Though excellent in the forest, our observers need further training to tune their skills to transect lines. They must focus their skill on what is closest to them, both high and low. They learn to measure the distance to everything they see. This slows their progress, and the fact that they have to follow the line even if they are certain bonobos are somewhere else near-by, results in fewer sightings overall. But it is these very constraints that allow this protocol to evaluate to what distance we actually see animal sign in the forest. This is essential information to allow us to estimate numbers.

Respecting the compass line — no matter what.

Walking the line in the TL2 forest.

Over the past four years we have used different designs for our surveys, depending on the area we wanted to cover and the focus of our inventories and the resources available.

Our first and largest surveys took us over two years to complete and covered an initial area of over 40,000 km2 with three to five field teams out at once. We knew very little about the landscape and its fauna at the outset so we used a two-stage approach. In the first year, 2007, we covered as much ground as possible using compass oriented reconnaissance walks, called recces (see map 2 above). This allowed us to identify a core area of about 30,000 km² that appeared still to have large mammals.

In the second year we initiated the line-transect inventories in the core area (see map 3 above). Although with major interest in bonobos, elephants and hunting sign, our observers also followed duikers and primates. We used two designs for the line transect, one in the northern landscape where elephants occur in a circumscribed area but where bonobos are scattered and uncommon, and a second in an 11,000 km² region in the south of the landscape that includes savanna ecotone, and where bonobos are frequent and widespread but elephants rare.

A transect team is worth a good look even with a mouthful of Dialium fruit.

OK so how many bonobos ARE THERE in the TL2 forest?
That will be in the next “How many bonobos” post….
when John Hart, Scientific Director, once more explains how we look for answers.

NOTE 1  for Map 3a.  Our transect survey area covered 30,600 km² divided into 34 survey blocks, 30 x 30 km (900 km²) each.  We used two different designs to lay out our transects: in the southern sector  (12 blocks totaling 10,800 km²) where our exploratory recces showed bonbos most abundant, we sampled each survey block with 18 transects (shown in black), distributed randomly at the centers of 5 x 5 km grid laid over each block.  In the central TL2 (22 blocks, totalling 19,800 km²), we sampled 5 randomly selected survey blocks using a systematic layout of transects in each block.  Field teams collected additional data on fauna and human activities on recces (shown in red) as they moved between transect locations.

NOTE 2 for Map 3b. A detailed view of the transect lay out for survey block D14.  In this case the transects are located at the center of a 5 x 5 km grid overlaying the block.  This design provides us with a representative coverage of the block.  Depending on design all transects can be used or a random selection can be sampled.

Related posts:

1. Where are the Bonobos — and Why?
2. REUTERS has it All Wrong about Bonobos (updated)
3. April links : bonobos & elephants

Knee-deep on a rainy-season trail in the Lomami Park

I returned to Congo this September. My friend Andrew Bernard and I, both with newly earned undergraduate degrees, traveled together. He continued directly to the Lomami Park to spend three months studying birds.

Before joining Andrew and my parents I worked first as a substitute teacher at the international school in Kinshasa, my alma mater, then as a volunteer at a missionary hospital, where I observed surgeries and witnessed my first childbirth. I spent my last month in Congo opening transects in the proposed Lomami Park. Below are observations from that time as I became acquainted with the land, field work, and the remarkable people with whom my parents work.

October 28th: After spending a few days in Kisangani where my parents had meetings we flew south along the Congo River to Kindu, a smaller more isolated town than Kisangani and the southern entry into the TL2. From Kindu it is 5-6 hours on motorbike northwest to Tshombe Kilima, a collection of mud-wattle houses on the eastern edge of the future Lomami National Park. From Tshombe Kilima it is 36 km of hiking, to the village of Katopa on the western edge of the forest. Katopa was my base for the next couple of weeks.

Two major themes of my trip to TL2 this year were the importance of suiting up and of the mushasino (or hip-pack), an indispensible article. I had not come prepared with a mushasino, so I used the removable top of my frame pack. Thus, my mushasino was huge and a source of great amusement.

Suited up and striking a pose at Katopa Camp

During the rainy season, suiting up for a motorbike ride means long sleeves and long pants, a hat and sunglasses with a raincoat easily accessible. It is best to have water, sunscreen, a headlamp and possibly a camera in close reach, for which the mushasino is perfect. The motorbike ride is rough. The trail is narrow and muddy, there is always the possibility that you will get stuck in a rainstorm, or that the bike will fall out of a dugout or off a bridge during a river crossing. Thus, it is critical to properly pack your gear in two heavy-duty plastic bags.

Mom and I cross the Kasuku River with Mom’s driver Gilain balancing her motorbike in front.

Mama, Baba, Dino and I pulled out of Kindu in the afternoon. For the first half of the trip the weather was fine, but after we crossed the Kasuku River the rain began. Forks of lightening lit up the purple sky as we moved across the savannas, followed closely by booms of thunder. Despite my raincoat I was soon drenched and cold. The uneven dirt path was streaming with runoff, and several times we had to get off the bikes to push them over slick, eroded sections of hill.

We arrived after dark, wet and cold at Tshombe Kilima– two hours later than expected – and were dismayed to find no fires or food at the project compound. But using headlamps from our mushasinos, within an hour a chicken was killed and plucked for dinner and a blazing fire was built. We huddled around it close to midnight, eating rice and chicken floating in palm oil.

November 1: I had my first lesson in GPS before leaving Tshombe Kilima. Over a breakfast of Quaker’s quick oats with powdered milk and sugar, Baba explained elements of geography, using a lumpy lemon as our planet Earth.

I had many lessons from Baba on this trip. Here, how to download my GPS and check the trail we cut on a map. He really wasn’t as worried as he looks.

By early afternoon I was well suited up for the walk to Katopa– long pants tucked into long socks (to keep ants from crawling up my legs), a hat and a long-sleeved shirt for crossing the savannas and a raincoat around my waist. In the mushasino was sunscreen, camera, peanuts and requisite headlamp.

On this walk I began to see important transitions in our surroundings. The Lomami park boasts an exceptionally varied landscape: dry forest and flooded forest, swamp and savanna. I learned to pay attention to the soil – Is it sandy or clay like? – Also, the height of the water table, the color of the running water, the size of trees and type of understory, and the number of termite mounds and ants present.

Orchids along the trail to Katopa

November 2: Breakfast is tea with lemon, steamed plantains and peanut butter. It is beautiful here. The Katopa base camp is built on the bank of the Lomami River and Baba has planted a big garden. There are tomatoes, manioc, amaranth, several other local greens, pineapple and papaya, with local eggplant and cabbage on the way.

I had my first forest session cutting transects. We work as a two-person team. One person in front with a machete cuts the path while someone behind (me) guides the cutter, using a GPS and compass to keep the transect on course. Today I worked with Martin, pointing out landmarks in the distance for him to cut towards. Describing different trees and undergrowth is excellent Swahili practice.

This evening I made a map in my field notebook of the region where I will be cutting transects.

Fungus in forest

Nov 3,4: More transect work with Martin – still based at our Katopa camp. We move slowly as we cut transects, which gives me a lot of time to just watch the forest. Today we walked through a field of yellow, flame-like mushrooms that grow out of the fallen fruit of a specific tree, and my attention is always drawn to the lianas. They are distinguishable by their shape and the color of their wood and sap. Some lianas have alternating red and pink wood, others have florescent yellow sap that leaks only out of the center, while others bleed a bright red along the rim.

Liana art of the forest

Nov 5: I am writing by candlelight from one of two barazzas (leaf-roof shelter) at Camp Bonobo where I will spend my first overnight in the forest. Nearby there is a white-water stream, which is good for drinking, and a black-water stream, which is full of tannins and good for washing. I love spending time in the cooking barazza where there is always a fire going and I can talk with the men who are my work companions. In the eating barazza (here) the interior design leaves something to be desired… The table is too high and too far away from either of the benches –all fixed in the ground. The table is finished with an uneven flattened wood bark, rendering it precarious for mugs of hot tea. Twice, my milky sweet tea tipped over!

Dino is the Katopa camp manager and was a huge help.

Alas – today as we were getting ready to leave Katopa camp I learned the importance of the mushasino. I took a last trip to the outhouse, a squat-down, hole in the ground affair with a view over the Lomami River, and as I stood up the GPS slipped out of my shirt pocket and down the hole! Baba and Dino responded to my utter dismay and confusion by fashioning a long stick with a hook-like branch on the end. I was able to snag the GPS, using my headlamp to illuminate the hole. Then Baba, Dino and I spent a good twenty minutes on the bank of the Lomami thoroughly cleaning it with tiny twigs, then wet cloths and finally hankies doused in alcohol. The GPS still works, thank goodness, but when it is not in the mushasino it is securely tied with ribbon to a button-hole on my shirt.

After the outhouse affair it was a bit of a subdued departure for the field. I am clutching the GPS, Martin is waiting in the pirogue.

Martin, Jean, and Bonnie waited patiently. It was late morning when we crossed the Lomami, back to the study area.

Martin is average height and strong and usually wears a fantastic sky-blue, floppy, felt hat. Bonnie is a tall, lanky young man from Katanga province who recently moved to Katopa. His young wife is due to have a baby in a few months! He is a brilliant naturalist and very familiar with the bonobo-rich southern region of the Lomami Park. Jean is small and nimble, visiting his mother, one of the Katopa chief’s four wives.

Bonnie (left), Martin and Jean in camp at the end of the day.

Martin and I cut more transect this afternoon while Bonnie and Jean walked over 18 km along transects and paths looking for bonobos or signs of bonobos. As Martin and I cut transects we also look for signs of bonobos. So far we have seen old nests, bonobo trails and fresh brutage or signs of eating. Today he and I had our first real conversation as we walked back to Camp Bonobo on the new transect. I asked most of the questions, but his answers were always long and detailed. Martin is in his late 20s. After his first wife left him with five young children he went looking for another wife in a nearby village. Once he paid the bride price (goats, oil, hat and watch to the dad and shoes to the mom), she moved in with him. He says he is now saving up money so that she can go to secondary school. Martin was the oldest son in his family and never had the chance to finish secondary school because it was his responsibility to provide for the family after his father died.

Martin and I walk to one of our study area camps.

Martin is also an extremely hard and determined worker. Cutting through the forest understory is grueling, but he rarely wants a break, and once we get back to camp he immediately swings into gear cooking dinner. Amazing.

I took a bath in the black-water stream near Camp Bonobo tonight. There are crayfish in the stream that pinch you if you bathe after dark. I know it’s silly, but I am scared of the crayfish, which is a great source of amusement to Martin, Jean and Bonnie. Jean caught a few and we ate them with our dinner of rice and dried fish.

Nov 6: This morning Martin and I continued work on the transect that we started yesterday while Bonnie and Jean walked 30 km (!) looking for bonobos or signs of bonobos.

Checking equipment with Andrew

It was dusk when we got back to Katopa; Andrew was also back from his final foray into the savannas! It was so good to see him. We stayed up until midnight catching up – we had many stories to exchange.

Nov 8: Back at Camp Bonobo, this time with Andrew, Dino and the cook Brazzos, and two young fellows I do not yet know – Amigo and Michele. We have three transect cutting crews. It turns out my first transects veered a little too far to the West, so Martin and I corrected them today, finishing at the correct coordinates.

This evening everyone sat in the kitchen barazza together around the fire and I had a long discussion with Bonnie and Martin about the bible and evolution. Explaining evolution is a bit of a stretch for my Swahili, but I did my best.

Nov 9: More transect work out of Camp Bonobo. Martin and I work really well as a team, and have a rhythm down. We were able to cut 2km of transect today, the most yet, because the forest was relatively open. We ate a lunch of rice and greens and milky tea by a stream on our way back to camp. Retracing one’s steps on a newly cleared transect is a little unnerving, especially if you are moving fast, because it is easy to trip on a low liana and land on a pointed tree stump. Yikes.

Nov 10: Walked East to Camp Mpaka today, which was recently burned by poachers angry about the new park. The men quickly swung into gear repairing the two barazzas. With a machete as their only tool they replaced the entire foundation with new tree trunks, lodging the treelets by thrusting them into the ground. They replaced the roofs with fresh leaves, using lianas to attach all the components together. Andrew and I helped as we could.

Repairing the kitchen baraza at Camp Mpaka and getting supper underway at the same time.

Camp Mpaka is a beautiful spot at the top of a small rise. At the bottom of the hill is a winding black-water stream and there is a savanna a ten-minute walk away. It is my favorite camp yet.

After dinner I talked about marriage with the men around the fire. They were shocked to hear that bride price is non-existent in the United States and that women can, for the most part, marry without their parent’s permission. I was appalled to hear them all talk about beating their wives as if it were as normal as going to the grocery store. Soon Papa Dino, Andrew and I were debating with the rest of the men about whether beating one’s wife is acceptable.

Nov 12: At around 4:00 this morning I woke to the sound of people moving around outside my tent. All the fellows were awake hauling packs and gear inside tents or under the kitchen barazza (the second barazza did not have a completed roof). The air felt heavy with rain and the wind was picking up. By 4:30 the downpour began, accompanied by thunder and lightning. I was too excited about the storm to fall asleep again.

A rainy day in camp. Dino thinks he sees a leak. Brazzos is making more tea. An endless game of cards…

The rain continued until noon. Brazzos had to dig a trench around the kitchen barazza to keep the rain from flooding the floor. Dino, Andrew and I drank tea and played gin rummy, using a sleeping mat as our table. Eventually two of the young men, Amigo and Jean, began to dance in the rain. Stomping out a rhythm, they swayed and turned. Eventually I asked if they would teach me one of the dances.

I am being taught the dance.

So, among my Katopa lessons are not only the value of suiting up and the need to always have the mushasino slung at my hip, but also an appreciation of a strange new beauty, new friends and a better understanding of life and work in the Lomami Park.

And to see a bit of the rainy-day dance here it is on You Tube:

NOTE FROM TERESE HART : The next post will be about transects — the why, where and how.

No related posts.

Andrew Bernard, recent graduate from Bates College, came to Congo as a volunteer in September 2011. As he put it, “I couldn’t dabble in everything….” So, he surmounted a nearly irresistible desire to look at all the wildlife – and “primarily considered TL2’s birds.” Below is Andrew’s report:

My journey into TL2 began in mid-September with the 6-hour motorbike ride from Kindu, capital of Maniema Province, on the Congo River. After two hours of pushing because of a broken chain and capsizing into the Kasuku river (my introduction to 2 months of never being completely dry), my motorbike and I both made it relatively unscathed to the village of Chombe Kilima. After a short rest and a lesson in GPS navigation from John, we began the 36 km trek on foot through forest, across savannas, and over rivers towards the Katopa field camp.

Andrew measures a bird’s wing with Ramazani poised to write down the dimensions.

Over the next week, John introduced me to the Katopa crew, some of whom would be accompanying me on my excursions, and he instructed me on mist-net technique. Mist nets are a common avian surveying tool, popular because they allow close observations of a bird-in-the-hand as well as trapping more secretive and skulking species. He also informed me of my major goal over the next two months: to add to the current bird list for the park and surrounding region, currently at 212 species with a focus on the forests and savannas of the Katopa sector. In addition to the mist nets, I’d be observing with binoculars and a spotting scope (photographing individuals when possible), and recording calls with a digital recorder and parabolic microphone.

Dino, a TL2 field-leader, removes a fire-crested alethe from a mist net.

After learning the ropes on the birds and a couple failed attempts at reeling in a tigerfish on the Lomami River, we left Katopa down a trail into the future Lomami National Park. We stopped after about a 6-hour trek to establish a camp near Falanga savanna, one of two large savannas the trail crosses. This region of the proposed park is interesting for birding with both dense forest and savanna- island habitats—along with transition ecotone. Such a diverse range of niches makes for an impressive resident and migratory avifauna. We hoped to explore all three environments thoroughly.

Map of the southern TL2 region and the southern part of the Lomami National Park (green) showing Andrew’s study sites.

Now the sole muzungu (foreigner) and English speaker, I was accompanied by two assistants, a cook, and a few porters; it was time to start rolling. I had taken four weeks of Swahili classes during my junior-year study-abroad to Zanzibar, and in addition studied French during middle and high school. Congolese Swahili, however, is a different dialect than Zanzibari Swahili, and my French was very rusty; needless to say, communication often proved a drawn-out and exhausting affair. Nevertheless, I was able to develop a mutually-understood daily routine with my field team: We opened our 10 mist nets around 5:30 in the morning, checking them 4 or 5 times throughout the day until furling them around 6:00 in the evening. During the day, weather depending, we’d wander the area around our camp, hoping to observe and record as many species as possible.

Grey ground thrush removed from the mist net; one of our big range extensions.

Devout optimist that I am, I expected every aspect of my work to run smoothly. I was quickly exposed to the contrary. For example, sometimes mist nets trap birds too well, and it takes much finagling to remove them. Once, when we did not reach a netted bird soon enough, I was reminded that a struggling animal does not go unnoticed for long in the jungle: safari ants had gotten there first.

Birds will also tend towards areas very inaccessible to humans; while the swampiest of grasslands and the tallest of canopies may be great places for a bird, for humans they are quite tiring on the legs and neck, respectively. One tiring aspect of the work was the constant expectation of finding something: birds don’t have a 9 to 5 workday, and all but the most extreme conditions are conducive for a particular species to be active. Some of the Cisticolas called in the hottest part of the day, owls called, briefly and always unexpectedly, at night and any number of crakes skulk around the flooded grasslands after a big rain. In addition to all the field work, I had the assumed task of learning my main field guide, Birds of Africa: South of the Sahara by Sinclair and Ryan, backwards and forwards, with occasional referrals to John’s two volume set of the Birds of West Central and Western Africa by Mackworth-Praed and Grant.

A tiny yellow-footed flycatcher caught along a stream near Camp Bonobo.

Poring over the accounts and maps in field guides, I narrowed down the list of species possible to find in TL2 and surroundings to around 725, of which roughly 600 I had never heard of before. Needless to say, I went through a few sets of AAA batteries in my headlamp trying to master this list. My short stints at Camp Katopa in between field sorties, in addition to finally catching a small tigerfish, did allow me the chance to recharge my batteries..

During the first circuit, which lasted two and a half weeks, I surveyed from four different camps along the trail for about 3 days each—adding a day or two for days lost to rain. Over the next month-and-a-half, I would take two more trips away from Katopa, one into the future Park, and a longer one further south into the savannas. South of Katopa, larger savannas open up; these are no longer the savanna “islands” enclosed by forest characterizing the region I had been in, but they form a corridor which connects to the wide-open stretches of grassland resembling the big game country of East Africa.

JP hands equipment to Brazzos across a deep swale of the southern savannas.

It was around that time that I really started dreading my bugali (a mush they make from cassava root flour that looks, and kind of tastes, like play-doh minus salt) and dried fish, which was our daily fare in the camps. But that was what we had available. I’ll never forget how happy I was to eat that first package of Glucose Biscuits one of the team leaders, Dino, brought from Kindu at the end of that last trip. Still, I appreciate going through that period of nutritional declination, mostly because then I felt like I was really living in Congo. I was there, in the thick of it, lowered down from any hierarchical social platform normally elevating visitors above their native hosts. Sure, the cook, Brazzos, always let me dish out my lunch and dinner first, but sharing that connection living in such un-pampered conditions—and (mostly) enjoying it—epitomized two months in the Congo bush for me.

The red-backed shrike, a migratory species generally limited to large savannas; its presence suggests a closer connection to the great savannas of southern Congo than previously thought.

On November 6th, the last day of my bird work, we ended up with 255 species on the TL2 list. That means we’ve boosted a list that’s been accumulating for 4 years by about 20% in 6 solid weeks of sampling. I will always think I should have been doing more, but overall it’s not a bad result. Plus, I’ll be spending a lot of December sifting through the hundreds of unclassified recordings I have, trying to identify species. Even without finishing the master list, however, we have some exciting finds: there are at least 10 significant species range extensions we’ve identified, notably Weyns’s Weaver (Ploceus weynsi) and the Grey Ground-thrush (Zoothera princei). Even the pictures I took and recordings I made of well-known species are valuable as a contribution to a growing database for the Lomami National Park. In the end, every observation in the isolated and un-sampled TL2 region is a valuable record.

This African dwarf-kingfisher was one of six species of kingfisher caught by Andrew and his team in the mist nets during their 6 weeks of observation.

The Central Congo is a fascinating place if you are interesting in anything natural and unspoiled: the flora, the fauna, the people, the paradigm. These do come in conflict: people will sometimes cut too many trees or hunt too many animals, but in the TL2 at least, everything interacts with a temperament less biased by consumerism, and more slated towards self-subsistence. Here, it seems, is a place “progress” forgot, where the circular and communal goal one day is often just to be able to begin the following day. It may not sound like an ideal relaxing vacation get-away…. Congo is just different: getting around is a nightmare, corrupt officials expecting bribes are left and right, and I never felt very secure when I was by myself. But when you finally get to TL2, and see how the TL2 project has integrated with the land and people, you cannot help but leave with aspirations of returning and continuing to make the country more aware of everything it has worth protecting, and helping the people protect it.

And I want to catch a bigger tigerfish.

Highlights for Birders

We have identified some species in TL2 that, according to distributions found in the seven-volume The Birds of Africa would be noteworthy range extensions. I mention the specific text, as there is considerable variation in ranges among other sources. Whether I note a range extension as major or minor is rather subjective, but I take into account the extent of their documented distribution as well as its proximity to the TL2 region; for example, Weyns’s Weaver is documented to live in north Congo, but since its distribution was pretty restricted I call that a major range extension. I also note if the species is migratory.

Major Range Extensions:

• Agelastes niger (Black Guineafowl): captured by Julian Kerbis of the Chicago Field Museum. This bird has never previously been recorded from Congo’s Central Basin.
• Gyps africanus (White-backed Vulture): One bird seen soaring over savanna. Probably ranging from the larger savannas to the south
• Larus fuscus (Lesser Black-backed Gull): Palearctic migrant. Seen at the Kindu airport on the Congo River.
• Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull): Palearctic migrant seen near Kindu on the Congo River.
• Bycanistes subcylindiricus (Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill) Uncommon in the savanna ecotone. First seen was a bird killed by a local hunter, but then later living birds.
• Zoothera princei (Grey Ground-thrush). Four caught at two different forest sites in the Katopa Sector
• Ploceus weynsi (Weyns’s Weaver). Seen in a forest gallery on savanna.
• Euplectes albonnotatus (White-winged Widowbird) Seen on the savannas
• Parmoptila jamesoni (Jameson’s Antpecker) Caught in mist net in forest .

Lesser Range Extensions and other highlights :

• Mesophoyx intermedia (Yellow-billed Egret)
• Terathopius ecaudatus (Bateleur) One seen, incongruously, soaring over the city of Kindu
• Circus ranivorus (African Marsh Harrier) Seen on the savannas
• Circus macrourus (Pallid Harrier): Palearctic migrant
• Buteo buteo (Common Buzzard) Migrant, seen once on savannas
• Hieraaetus ayersii (Ayer’s Hawk-eagle) Good view of a pair over forest-savanna ecotone.
• Neotis denhami (Denham’s Buzzard): Pair seen once on large savanna
• Afroapvo congensis. (Congo Peafowl) Uncommon but widespread in forest; nocturnal crowing call recorded.
• Glareola cinerea (Grey Pratincole). Large flocks seasonally on sand bars in the Congo River below Kindu
• Aplopelia larvata (Lemon Dove) Uncommon but widespread in forest.
• Cercococcyx olivinus (Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo). Regularly heard
• Raphidura sabini (Sabine’s Spinetail). Common over forest and ecotone.
• Merops breweri (Black-headed Bee-eater): intra-African migrant Most frequently seen in September-October. Resident population likely as well.
• Phedina brazzae (Brazza’s Martin). One bird seen well on a sand bar in the Lomami River
• Hirundo lucida (Red-chested Swallow) Migratory flocks in the savannas
• Pterodelichon rufigula (Red-throated Cliff Swallow) Migratory flocks savannas, september-october.
• Macronyx fuellebornii (Fulleborn’s Longclaw) Uncommon but occurring widely on savannas
• Phyllastrephus cabanisi (Cabanis’s Greenbul) Caught in the mist nets, Katopa forest
• Schoenicola brevirostris (Fan-tailed Grassbird) One seen in marshy savanna
• Prinia subflava (Tawny-flanked Prinia) Common
• Apalis goslingi (Gosling’s Apalis) Regular in small flocks along the Lomami in riverine forest.
• Anthreptes aurantium. (Violet-tailed Sunbird) . Common in riverine forest along the Lomami. Nesting pair at Katopa camp.
• Anthreptes seimundi (Little-green Sunbird) caught in mist net forest savanna edge
• Chalcomitra amethystina (Amethyst Sunbird) forest edge in savanna
• Cyanomitra verticalis (Green-headed Sunbird) Caught in mist nets, forest island in savanna
• Malimbus cassini (Cassin’s Malimbe) caught in mist nets
• Euplectes capensis (Yellow Bishop) marshy savannas
• Euplectes hartlaubi (Marsh Widowbird) localized in wet savannas
• Euplectes axillaris (Fan-tailed Widowbird) savannas
• Spermphaga ruficapilla (Red-headed Bluebill) caught in mist net
• Spermphaga haematina (Western Bluebill) caught in mist net
• Spermphaga poliogenys (Grant’s Bluebill) caught in mist nets

There are also many generally uncommon residents and migrants that occur in the TL2, for example Pitta reichenowi (the Green-breasted Pitta), Vanellus lugubris (the Senegal Lapwing), and Accipiter toussenelii (the Red-chested Goshawk).

This red-chested goshawk had a larger patch of bare yellow skin than recorded in the bird guides.

Some of our photos reveal field characters that have not been highlighted in the field guides. For example, A. toussenelii, we noted, had a major patch of bare yellow skin on the face. The field guides just mention the yellow cere.

We will post our full list to date shortly after we finish our review of the bird recordings.

andrew.b.bernard@gmail.com

Related posts:

1. Arrested while Counting Bonobo Nests in Congo

Our last tambiko took place in the village of Masiri, a 6km walk inland from the port village of Lowa on the Congo-Lualaba River. This was a ceremony of the Mituku peoples and the Lengola peoples. Their ancestors know this forest. Basic tenet: the understanding of the dead is deeper than the experience of the living. The question put before the ancestors: … a national park? Their word came through the ceremony.

We came in dugouts. I came south with a delegation from Kisangani. John came north with a delegation from Kindu. On this map tambiko sites are red squares.

This was the last tambiko consultation before pushing the park proposal from the village up into the highest offices of the provinces – two provinces are involved: Orientale and Maniema. At this last ceremony, along the Congo River, key people came from both provinces and all ethnic groups.

A small fishing dugout comes up to our much larger dugout to sell fish for our overnight bivouac on the banks of the Congo. Two days in motorized dugout whether coming from Kisangani or Kindu.

Included was a technical group from the cabinets of both governors, the cabinets of both environmental ministers, and the land tenure bureaus. They met to hash out details, harmonize approaches and finalize a text for national park creation.

The delegations from Kindu and Kisangani in all day session to finalize one version of the park proposal.

Our reunion on the banks of the Congo River was at the old (now decrepit) catholic mission of Lowa. After a day of discussion and rewriting, we were called to the village of Masiri by elders from both Lengola and Mituku ethnic groups.

We were greeted in the village, but told to keep walking.

From Masiri we were called into the forest, another two kilometers to a cleared site for the tambiko. There were confusing barriers along the way….

The whole procession of us waited, uncertain how to proceed at four different barriers. Political figures and “foreign” chiefs, alike, were all made to understand that the local people made the rules.

After we finally arrived, the tambiko became several hours of intoxicating singing and dancing.

Both young….

and old were part of the dance and music.

Every traditional authority had a chance to speak, harangue, dance and admonish…

The elders’passion spoke through music more than oration as the ancestor watched from its small bamboo shelter.

But it was the goat that spoke for the ancestor

The elders awaited a sign from the goat.

Apparently the goat turned the right way at the right moment as it was led through the clearing. The park was approved.

The goat was duly strung up and sacrificed.

With words and saliva the chiefs bless the blood, we are all anointed, the ceremony ends.

It was a couple weeks later that we met in Kisangani. The traditional ceremonies were over. They had been held by all the peoples living around the perimeter of the Park, who have ancestral forest within the Park: the Ngengele, the Langa, the Mbole, the Mituku and the Lengola. Now we were taking their agreement along with our information to present to the governor of Orientale Province – would he sign?? He did – with much fanfare. And now the governor of Maniema has signed as well.

The governor of Orientale signs before a packed room of government and provincial witnesses.

Yesterday, the file was on the desk of the national environmental minister. He will move it to the president. As soon as I hear whether or not DR Congo gets a new Lomami National Park – it will be posted here.

The governors of both provinces have agreed to the Lomami National Park — now the president!

No related posts.

Preparing the Abraham Ceremony this year was often too sad to bear. Last year we gave awards to the widows of eight park guards who died defending Congo’s parks; this year there were 10 deaths and it didn’t stop there. Rebels killed three more guards as we prepared the ceremony. Why in Virunga, the most exquisite and varied park in Africa? Why are there still gangs of rebels? When will this war end?

The park guards, Muhindo (above) and Mastaki (lower right), were killed in an attack by FDLR rebels in Virunga National Park on 31 January 2011.

Even more incomprehensible: Two guards were ambushed and killed as they questioned elephant poachers in the Okapi Reserve; some of those poachers were Congolese military. Those military were never accused, never brought to justice.

The park guards, Kambale (left) and James (above right), were killed by military poachers just before Christmas 2010.

This is a double mourning. We are not only mourning the deaths, but also mourning the tragic failure of the rule of law. How much longer will the guards put their lives at risk to protect what their fellow Congolese armed forces are plundering? It is too sad to bear.

These are the guards honored in memoriam and the date of each attack:
Augustin Kirikiyehigha, Patrice Bateterana and Vincent Kimbumbu — 24 January 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Muhindo Mburungani, Mastaki Rumama – 31 January 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Katchupa Changwi – 20 February 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Paluku Mayani – 6 March 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Magayane Bazirushaka – 8 April 2011 in Virunga National Park;
James Biangbale and Kambale Bemu – 23 December 2010 in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.

It is not only park guards who stand up against armed men; it is unarmed citizens as well.

On the borders of the Bili Uele Reserve: Chief Kpilimbalo refused to cooperate with undisciplined elements of the Congolese armed forces who were intent on poaching elephants in his village’s forest. After reporting them to the authorities, he received death threats and fled with his entire village into the forest.

Remote Bili Uele recieves no 4 wheel traffic. Even the most essential goods come in two wheel caravans.

Chief Kpilimbalo’s courage gives hope. In fact all the remaining Abraham prizes show the grit and village level commitment that continues to hold-out for nature in DR Congo. The Abraham ceremony gathered eight of these heroes together in Kinshasa, together with diplomats, politicians, and conservationists. Thus their determination was honored and we, the audience, were reminded of what our priorities must be.

The German Ambassador and the wife of the American Ambassador are attentive.

It is a full-house at the Abraham Ceremony 2011.

Along with Chief Kpilimbalo, there were two other traditional leaders who did what ICCN (Congolese parks authority) and international conservation organizations cannot do; they rallied a doubtful and divided population to the cause of conservation.
Mwami Saambili – worked with his people and Virunga Park staff, in an area of high incsecurity, to clarify park borders;
Ramazani Okota –convinced all the village chiefs in a critical zone to support the future Lomami National Park.

The American Ambassador gives Chief Ramazani his award.

Particularly reassuring was the officer from the Congolese Armed Forces, who reminds us that even where institutions are weak, individual responsibility can make a huge difference. Major Guy Kolongo was honored not only for arresting poachers and for disciplining far-flung troops, but also for working close to the ground. He snuffed out the rogue ambitions of those who commandeered the environment for individual profit: a politicking “prophet”, an army lieutenant and an escaped convict.

Major Guy is unequivocal about right and wrong.

Although the Abraham Foundation recognizes the courage of people who, otherwise, have no voice, in the case of the Minister of Agriculture, Norbert Kantitima, an important exception was made. He is now in President Joseph Kabila’s cabinet and pushing for fundamental development of his country, but he was involved in one incident, little talked about and that is only now finding resolution. It was during the war, in the year 2000, when Norbert was governor of South Kivu. Motivated by his childhood love for Kahuzi Biega National Park, he cancelled all war-time concessions in the narrow, but critical Nindja connecting corridor. He sent a mixed group of villagers and ICCN to mark the park limits. They were attacked pre-dawn; ten people were killed. Now, as the ICCN is again reclaiming the corridor, the Minister called the Nindja chief, who had been present at the massacre, to receive the prize by his side.

Minister Kantitima shared the trauma of the war in Kahuzi Biega National Park, calling up local chiefs as witnesses and solidarity for the future.

There were also three ICCN park guards, one of whom is a Park Director, who are recognized this year for exceptional and on-going commitment and courage:
Radar Nishuli is the director in Kahuzi Biega National Park. His background in community conservation allows him to mend together a war-torn and divided park;
Agare Kunguru is the leader of shock troops in Garamba. During one of many successful missions, he managed to recover a little girl kidnapped by the LRA;
Boketshi Bunda is a park guard in Salonga National park valued for the quickness and accuracy with which he mastered research skills. Despite this he has insisted on maintaining his basic patrol role even after spending several months in jail, wrongfully accused by poachers.

Park guards from Virunga National Park with the large-mammal snare lines brought back from a patrol.

No related posts.

ARRIVAL IN KINDU

Hi, my name is Dave Stanton and I am a PhD student at Cardiff University, UK and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). My PhD is on an animal called okapi, which is a rainforest giraffe that lives only in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo). I have teamed up with the TL2 project to try and find out more about this little known species in a part of the country called TL2 (the area between the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba Rivers).

This is the incredible Okapi, big as a small horse, but a giraffe. photo credit: Kim Gjerstad.

Okapis are a species under threat from habitat fragmentation, human encroachment and poaching. They are also highly elusive and nearly impossible to see in the wild. To get around this problem, I am investigating questions about okapi ecology and conservation status using okapi DNA from dung found in the forest, and skins of hunted okapi that we find in villages. Genetic analysis can give us information crucial to conservation such as home-range sizes, movement patterns, and how population fragmentation is affecting the species.

Dung like a pile of gems —

TL2 is a particularly interesting area because TL2 okapi are separated from the rest of the species’s range by the Congo and Lomami Rivers and, therefore, may be genetically unique. (See map below.)
For this expedition I will be heading into the southern half of TL2 on motorbike, bicycle and foot to survey villages about okapi presence. I will then be heading into the northern half of TL2 to carry out a survey in the remote “Tutu Basin” to look for signs of okapi and hopefully to collect some samples.

At the moment I am in a town called Kindu, which is where this expedition will start. My first experience of Kindu is not a favorable one! I arrived with my assistant researcher, Chryso Kaghoma, on a UN flight. We had barely left the safety of the UN compound in Kindu when I was accosted by the head of the local immigration service (DGM). Despite already having my DRCongo visa, I am required to visit the immigration office. The head officer informed me that we have a “grand problème”.

“This is very serious. A legal matter,” he tells me gravely.

Despite only two options on the visa form that I filled out in London (transit and ordinary), in Kindu I need a “working visa” rather than the “ordinary” visa that I have. I am obliged to see what seems like every official in the building, one of whom is in a tiny wooden office, so small that after the assistant spent five minutes officiously squeezing a chair in for me, there was no room for me to get into it except by clamoring over the back! The DGM eventually tells me that he can sort out my “grand problème” if I give him $700. I definitely did not plan to do that!

The next two days are spent trying to find a solution to my problem. I go for a meeting with the DGM and the provincial minister of environment, interrupted every couple minutes by the DGM’s dog–bark, ringtone cellphone. We eventually find a solution, which is to pay $100 to the DGM as a “fine”. Suddenly all my problems evaporate, I get my passport back from the DGM who had been looking after it.

I am eager to leave for the forest.

Next day: I head north and west from Kindu on a motorbike, wedged somewhere between my rather large driver, our extensive baggage and a live chicken. Welcome to my adventures in TL2.

Finally — to the forest…

SANKURU UPDATE

I have just had a pretty tough few days. I went out this week to investigate some rumours of okapi presence, taking off from the base camp of the Harts near a small forest village called Katopa. Just to get to Katopa in the first place was a motorbike ride followed by a very long day’s walk from Kindu.

The okapi population in TL2 is incredibly important to investigate because it is on the west side of the Congo River and disjunct (or geographically distant) from the rest of the range on the east side. Okapi here are in very low numbers compared to elsewhere in their range, despite low hunting pressure, so it is important to find out why, if we want to conserve this species effectively. I am hoping to get some clues using genetics, but first I need samples!

The arrows are approximate okapi distribution with questions around the margins and the mysterious area of absence between the Lomami and the Lualaba.

For our mission we were on a tight timescale and had a lot of ground to cover. The first day we had an exhausting 40 km walk across an unusual savannah-forest habitat. Could this unusual habitat be one of the reasons that okapi are in lower numbers on the west side of the Congo and Lomami

I had started to get blisters on my heels from our walk a couple of days earlier – this was certainly not likely to help me with plenty of walking left to do! We arrived in a village called Etshuna late, put up our tents and passed out. We had a storm during the night and my hammock (great in the forest but not suited to villages) leaked. I had a very uncomfortable, wet night with little sleep. An early rise the next morning – we still had ground to cover.

Drying the socks, to then slip on over the blisters, yet again.

My friend and assistant, Kaghoma, who works for the Zoological Society of London, managed to rent us some bicycles to make the next leg of the trip a little easier – things were looking up! But not for long… We arrived in a village called Yosenge and were required to meet with the chief; a man sporting an all-blue adidas tracksuit, leopard tooth necklace and leopard-skin hat. We were told that we could not go any further without a meeting between this chief and the chiefs of six other villages of the region. This meeting would decide whether we were allowed to proceed or not and would take weeks to arrange – totally unfeasible with our schedule! This was a huge disappointment. Without any alternative, we had to turn around and go back to our camp at Katopa… Gutted!

Source of frustration…a chief with complicated protocol.

We set off the same day and arrived in Katopa the day after. A total of 80 km in three days and everyone (especially me) exhausted. My blisters had got progressively worse and by the time we arrived back at camp, my feet were in shreds and I could barely walk! On top of that, I had managed to get Giardia (not serious, but a very unpleasant intestinal illness…), probably from the water in Etshuna. All-in-all I was feeling a bit low…

Source of pain….

However, all is not lost! We gained some valuable information on locations of okapi from the villagers at Yosenge that we should be able to follow-up at a later date. At some point I am hoping that we will even be able to collect some okapi skins from hunters in the TL2 region. Skins are valuable sources of DNA as it is usually of a higher “quality” than dung DNA. This may allow us to study genes within the Okapi genome that relate to habitat, perhaps help us to understand why Okapi are in some areas but not others. It will also give us a better idea of how different okapi in TL2 are from okapi the rest of their range. The Congo River is an important barrier limiting the range of many species, and it may be that okapi either side of this huge river differ more than we thought.

Thank goodness for Kaghoma’s good spirits,competence and great endurance.

We are currently loading up our dugout (traditional Congolese canoe, hand carved from a single tree trunk) for our descent of the Lomami River. I’m starting to feel a little better, and very excited about the trip ahead and our mission into the Tutu Basin!

TUTU BASIN PILGRIMAGE

I have spent the last couple of weeks in the Tutu Basin in TL2 searching for signs of okapi and trying to find samples for my project on Okapi genetics. I’m pleased to report that I have had more success than my last mission out in Sankuru! This mission started with a three-day, dugout trip up the Lomami River, one of the main tributaries of the Congo River which is also one of the most remote places left in the world! This was a fantastic chance to see one of the world’s last true wildernesses, along with all manner of incredible birds, primates, bats and insects.

We arrived at our destination, a village called Obenge, and took a couple days of rest as we prepared for our trip into the forest – we would be miles away from anywhere so would have to bring everything we needed with us. The following are some extracts from my diary of our trip:

Rest stop. David’s knees are in the far back, next to John, on left side of photo.

Day 1. Today we set out on our expedition to try to verify and locate Okapi presence in the Tutu Basin. John and I have planned a basic route on Google Earth that takes us past some edos, openings in the forest where tracks are easier to see. The TL2 project has a small research camp, Losekola (link), from which we launched and that is only about a three-hour walk from Obenge. We left about midday. The moment we started walking there was a big clap of thunder and it started pouring rain. It rained all afternoon and night. The camp is nice, though, and we spent a comfortable night.

Day 2. “Didn’t leave camp until 9am because we were waiting for the rain to ease off. We stayed out until 6 pm though, making a long, tiring day. We found okapi tracks and dung at the second edo we visited, so really good!”

This was more like it — dung for the taking.

Day 4. “Another couple of really long days of walking. We visited a few more edos, but nothing there except a few buffalos, some pigs and stuff… We’ve seen characteristic signs of okapi feeding but only infrequently. My feet are really starting to hurt, and starting to get a bit of a pain in my tendon behind the left knee.”

Okapi were eating here….

Day 6. “Couple more very tough days of walking. My leg is very painful, I think I have a bit of tendonitis. Limped into Losekola camp at about 5pm. Very relieved and enjoyed my night at the camp.”

Once back in Obenge I have a look through what we managed to get from our mission; five dung samples and some information on okapi presence throughout the Tutu Basin from a week of hard walking. May not seem like a good pay-off, but this was actually more than I expected! It just goes to show how infrequent Okapi must be in this area.

With a few more samples I will be able to start using genetics to investigate questions important to okapi conservation. The first step is to get a unique genetic fingerprint, or “genotype” for each okapi individual. One of the things we can then investigate is how related the individuals are to each other, and see what features, such as rivers, villages and habitat-type affect this relatedness.

Look closely — there’s an okapi in this picture and quite close. No wonder they are rarely seen. This photo from the Harts’ radio collar study in the Ituri Forest – late 1980s.

The genetic information can then be used to advise the new protected areas as to how best to protect their Okapi population – all this from a few piles of dung!! Our trip also brings home how big the task is ahead of me – I am trying to genetically characterize this species throughout its range and this expedition covered only a very small part of that area! I’m determined to make it work – wish me luck!

Dave.

Addendum: After Dave left the TL2 study area, two of our TL2 researchers, Mpaka and Louison, went north to Rubi Tele to try to collect okapi dung samples from that protected area. They got samples from three dung piles and one dried skin. Their is a new energetic effort to protect Rubi Tele Reserve but the challenge is great: hunters consider it their forest. Okapi and all other mammals are seriously threatened.

Related posts:

1. I Remember Okapi, First Epulu, Next Lomami
2. Why the Lomami River?
3. Field Guide to Dung in the Forests of Central Congo

The chiefs in the northern province of Orientale, like those in the south, insist that the ancestors be consulted before a Park is created on their lands.  A “tambiko” must bring together all the traditional authorities.  The Mbole ethnic group held the first tambiko in August. The village they indicated was the most remote possible, a tiny outlier that had become a hide out for elephant poachers and bushmeat buyers.

Probably the best place for the ceremony.  The chiefs would be amongst the people that needed most to understand what a park meant.  But getting everyone there would be a project.

Our TL2 project has had a base in Obenge since 2007. This is our compound and if you look carefully you can see our dog.

We started in Kisangani on August 11^th.  We were 22 people on 11 motorbikes, included two people from the governor’s cabinet, a representative of the department of the environment, the provincial head-warden for parks, the army, a chief from another territory to be a witness, and someone from the department of land tenure.  It was two days to get to Opala.

We stopped for minor repairs in the mission village of Yaleko.

We crossed three major rivers the first day and slept on the banks of Lomami to arrive at the capital of the territory – Opala, a town with no telephone coverage sitting in a huge bend of the Lomami River.  It takes a full hour in an empty dugout with a 25 horse power motor to go from one end of Opala, around on the Lomami, to the other end.  It can be walked in less than 20 minutes.

A welcome evening to relax in Opala after two days on motorbike. The Parks head-warden for Orientale Province, Paulin, is in TL2 shirt, and joking with two members of the governor’s cabinet.

After a day organizing food and passengers we took off on the 14^th with 54 people in two dugouts lashed together.  Along with the motorbike caravan from Kisangani, there were the Mbole chiefs from the clans of the whole region, along with elders, and the top administration of Opala.  The dugout trip was two days, upstream with three motors pushing us.  All we had to eat was cold fried pig meat and shikwong (a sort of hard manioc paste).  I will be perfectly pleased if I am spared another such meal for a good few months.  We had a ten-person singing group in the back of the dugouts. At one pitstop (three per day) they lined up dancing and singing along the bank’s ridge — they pulled us up one by one to go disappear for a few minutes in the trees.

Taking off in the early morning from Opala. The territorial administrator in front with white kofia (cap).

We camped just north of the future park arriving in the outlier village of Obenge on the 15^th early afternoon.

John was already at our TL2 compound in Obenge having come up from the south in another dugout and having brought two chiefs from the Province of Maniema as witnesses.

Early the morning of the 16th men of the Balolo clan “invaded” our compound : the ceremony would soon begin.

The tambiko started on the 16^th.  What we saw was amazing, what happened was unexpected….

A goat was slaughtered. The woman chief of Obenge announced that the ceremony was beginning holding high her bloodied hand.

Drums. Song. Soon everyone was up dancing, including us….

….including women in a whirl of color…

…including the ancestors.

– But only John can tell about the final denouement.  Here are his words:

16 August 2011

“The events leading up to my “investiture” at the tambiko:

The women, including MamaTerese, and the woman-chief of the Balolo were asked to leave.  I continued to sit with the men in a large circle as Jean-Marie Ngandi, chief of the Balinga Lindja selected one by one individuals to move into a smaller circle around palm branches set up as a symbolic gateway to the forest.  Banana leaves had been laid out around the palm gateway.  As the clan elders were selected, each stood up, left the big circle and, taking their chairs, moved near one of the banana leaves by the palm gateway.  Finally Jean Marie asked the visiting chiefs from Maniema to join and he moved to the palm gateway himself.

Chief Jean-Marie Ngandi of the Balinga Lindja.

At this point just the visitors and witnesses remained in the original circle: the officials from the territorial and provincial administration,  David (a student) and myself.

Jean Marie then stood and approached me and asked that I join him with the clan members at the palm gateway.  Okangola, an Mbole university student, accompanied me as my guide (and interpreter).  We joined the smaller circle.  My chair, and that of Okangola were set up beside the palm gateway.

The chiefs and elders encircle John at the gateway to the forest.

After we were settled, Jean Marie Ngandi gave a short speech in which he made it clear the establishment of a park in the Mbole forest was not selling the forest.  Following that he called on each clan representatives to come forward using his leopard-skin covered scepter to direct them to stand next to me at the palm gate.  Each clan leader took strips of banana leaf dipped them in a basin of water in which we had washed our hands first.  Each person then invoked the ancestors standing in front of me and at the end hitting me on the head with the dripping leaves.  Finally, each ended by “kutema mate”, or spitting on the leaves as they tossed them under the palm gate.

A chief haranguing John before slapping him on the head with the leaves.

We all then ate a symbolic meal of meat from the goat slaughtered at the beginning of the ceremony and lituma (pounded bananas).  The remains of the meal were carefully cleared up.  Okangola explained to me that they were placed as an offering to the ancestors.

After that, we all stood up and without further ceremony or even a final word of closing, left the site.”

I was later told, with some awe by an old man, that John had become Wilangi — a keeper of customs able to deal with the invisible world, intercede with ancestors. What does this mean? We don’t know — not yet — but I still hear the drums, and the song.

Related posts:

1. Bicycle Diplomacy: the German Ambassador in the Future Lomami National Park
2. A Park for Bonobos? Do the Ancestors Want It?
3. Crocodiles in Central Congo – View from Lomami

Matt at our old okapi camp in the Ituri Forest

Below is his report from TL2 , with our photo documentary along the way:

My name is Matt Shirley and I am a PhD candidate in the Dept. of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation at the University of Florida. Since 2005 I have been studying the ecology and evolution of African crocodiles in order to establish a basis for their conservation. My work has taken me on surveys throughout West and Central Africa (including Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Niger, Gabon, Uganda, and Egypt) to establish, in most cases, the very first information on crocodile population status and distribution in the region. In some places, like Senegal and The Gambia, my efforts have resulted in the rediscovery of crocodiles that were previously believed to be locally extinct. While in others, like Gabon, I have been able to document the global stronghold for the little known slender-snouted crocodile which is, unfortunately, all but extinct now through West Africa. These efforts led me to be invited as a member of the IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group in 2009.

Slender snouted crocodile on the Lomami River

Throughout my surveys I capture a selection of individuals to take small blood samples for genetic analysis. So far, extensive efforts have been made to assess the systematic status of both the dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) and the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus). A study published by Eaton et al. (2009) diagnosed the presence of significant cryptic diversity within the dwarf crocodile, distinguishing three distinct species – O. osbornii (Congo Basin), O. tetraspis (Ogoouè Basin), and O. sp. nov. cf. tetraspis (West Africa). Since then, with the rediscovery of the Senegambian populations, I have diagnosed a critical Evolutionary Significant Unit within the new West African species. For the Nile crocodile, my recent paper (Hekkala and Shirley et al. 2011) has revealed that what we currently call the Nile crocodile is, in fact, also a cryptic species complex that is paraphyletic with respect to the New World crocodiles with deep divergence (ca. 10 million years ago). The newly recognized species – Crocodylus suchus – is primarily distributed throughout West and Central Africa with a few remnant populations in the Nile Valley of Uganda and Sudan.

Matt checking out other wildlife on his march to the Lomami

This brings me to my work in DR Congo:

• First, DR Congo is one of a very few countries in Africa that has never had a formal crocodile survey. Because of this, we have very little idea what species are distributed where, what is their population status, and how severe are the major threats.
• Second, DR Congo is one of the only countries identified so far that might have sympatric populations of Crocodylus niloticus and C. suchus.
• Finally, the systematic studies described above for the dwarf and Nile crocodile species complexes have yet to be carried out for the slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus).

Matt with slender-snouted croc on the Lomami

The slender-snouted crocodile shares, to a certain extent, the distribution of the others and is therefore subject to many of the same biogeographic processes. Unfortunately, the only region thus far with no samples available for this species is the geologic Congo Basin east to its easternmost populations in Lake Tanganyika. So, to these ends I made a trip to DR Congo in order to establish the very first, albeit very preliminary, data on population distribution and status and collect samples of the three crocodile species to further refine our understanding of the systematics and biogeography within these cryptic species complexes.

Late morning in Katopa camp, an advantage of mainly night work

One of the target sites within DR Congo was the Lomami River and the newly proposed protected area in the TL2 landscape. I felt this area was critical because it is a very remote area with little human activity, and therefore had the potential to harbor significant populations of crocodiles. And, after exchanges with John and Terese, it became clear that at least one species – the Congo dwarf crocodile – was a constant presence in the local bushmeat trade and further evaluation of the sustainability of this resource is warranted.

The dwarf crocodile is a frequent victim of the bushmeat trade for Kindu

We decided on an itinerary – first looking at the proposed National Monument site Imame followed by the Lomami River itself.

After a brief delay in Kindu due to some administrative snafu’s, I met my Congolese counterpart – Kinois Kitoko – and departed with the team to Chombe Kilima, our base to explore Imame.

Imame and the Lomami River were Matt’s collecting/observing points, but he asked questions all along the way from Kindu to Katopa camp.

Imame is a site along the Nyamatende River identified by the local residents as important for crocodiles. Effectively, this is a site where the river leaves the forest and enters into an edo (bai)-like clearing and forms a pool surrounded by large floating grass mats that extend back to the forest edge. After winding through this unique, open habitat for less than 0.5 km the river again reenters the forest on its way past Chombe Kilima, to the Loidjo River and eventually the Lomami River. Local fishermen used to fish this site regularly and often encountered many nkondenkonde (the slender-snouted crocodile). We visited this site on two occasions, once during the day for a preliminary scouting mission and once at night to better census the population and understand the demographic classes that use the site. During the day we encountered ±13 individuals, all of which were larger than 1.5 m total length and many of which were larger than 2.5 m! The night survey painted much the same picture though closer to 20 individuals were detected. In addition to the same group of large adults, at least four small animals of ± 1.0 m were observed, though no hatchling/yearlings were encountered.

Scanning the Imame before dusk

From these observations, additionally considering data collected from surveying the Nyamatende River on two separate occasions, it appears that Imame is a critical site for the adult population of slender-snouted crocodiles outside the breeding season. This area is relatively difficult to access from the nearest village, provides a constant source of deep water and prey during the dry season, and due to its openness provides ample opportunity for basking and thermoregulation. Further work needs to be done to verify this, but nesting likely takes place inside the forested areas of the river within a couple kilometers of Imame. After hatching, the adults return to Imame while the young exploit the forested river as a nursery. The latter was confirmed through observations of young slender-snouted crocodiles distributed throughout the Nyamatende River.

Hatch site

After visiting Imame we embarked on a long, two-day walk to the Katopa camp on the Lomami River. This was to be our base for the next 4 nights of surveying and sampling. The night of arrival we did a quick survey 15 km downstream largely to orient the new team members (notably Balanga, our pinacier or dugout captain) to the survey and capture methods. Our survey craft was an enormous, 15 m dugout pirogue with a 15 hp outboard motor. Needless to say, maneuverability and response time potentially presented significant challenges to approaching and capturing crocodiles. On the downstream trip we focused largely on learning communication signals between the surveyor and the pinacier, spotlighting crocodiles and identifying the species and size classes present. We additionally stopped at two fishing camps along the way to ask about lokokele (dwarf crocodile) hunting.

Writing out a specimen label in the prow of the dugout

Interestingly, the fishermen along the Lomami claimed that lokokele hunting was largely done during the rainy season when water levels were high and the forested margins of the river were flooded. They claim that during the dry season the lokokele retreat to their burrows and rarely come out. This is in contrast to villagers who live in the Kasuku basin at Kakungu village who explained that they primarily hunt lokokele during the dry season. This area has many streams and significant flooded forest that is, presumably, largely inaccessible during high water.

In both places the hunters are largely placing baited hooks at the entrances to burrows and waiting for the crocodiles to be caught. This hunting style is practiced throughout Central Africa, but in many other places the hunters actually go out at night to actively hunt the crocodiles outside of their burrows. The latter method can be much more damaging to a population if unregulated due to higher levels of detection. The lokokele fishery in this region, while probably not as destructive as the hunting of other exploited species, is an important source of income and protein for local communities. Its dynamics should be further explored and, if appropriate, can be encouraged as a sustainable resource for people living around the new protected area.

Even the little ones have their jaws taped closed during sampling

Going back to the first night of surveys on the Lomami River, on the return trip to camp we continued the training and focused largely on trying to capture animals for sampling. We were successful with two small slender-snouted crocodiles, the first samples taken thus far! This was a good experience for everyone, to handle a live crocodile for the first time, observe the measurements taken and the blood sampling protocol.

Sex is just another data point

Halfway back I gave the spotlight to Kinois so that he could begin some preliminary training in spotlighting for crocodiles. Kinois quickly got the hang of the method and was detecting individuals easily. During crocodile surveys, the two most critical pieces of data to collect on detected individuals are the species identification and their size class. The former is usually not a challenge, at least not in Central Africa where the three crocodile species are relatively easily distinguished, but the latter is a skill that takes a lot of time and experience to hone. Kinois displayed solid competence in species identification, as well as solid potential to develop the sizing skills!

Kinois getting the hang of it

Additionally on the return trip, we were successful in finding a slender-snouted crocodile nest site. The nest was placed on an elevated section of shoreline between the river and a flooded forest pool. It is likely that the female occupied the flooded pool while guarding the nest and that she brought the young into the pool after they hatched until it dried back into the main river. This was a good opportunity for the team to not only see a nest site, but to begin to fully comprehend just how challenging it would be to monitor the slender-snouted crocodile population through indices of nest effort and success. This species, as well as the dwarf crocodile, does an amazing job at hiding their nest sites and for this reason, coupled with low nesting density, nest surveys would not be an effective means of population monitoring.

The next morning plans were made to go down river approximately 50 km and work our way back, surveying and catching animals over a two night period. Over the course of these next two work nights we successfully collected additional slender-snouted crocodile samples, as well as the only two dwarf crocodile samples from this area. The survey data are not yet analyzed, but a couple of interesting characteristics stand out.

• the encounter rate was relatively low – on par with 1.0 – 1.5 crocodiles/km. I guess I should clarify that this is “superficially low”, simply because the site is so remote, uninhabited and seemingly unexploited. However, many aspects, most notably ecosystem productivity, have yet to be thoroughly explored and it could just be that the population density is naturally low for reasons such as this.
• an interesting low abundance of adult and sub-adults individuals. Over the course of +/- 50 km only three animals in the adult size class (> 2.0 m) were detected, all other encounters were juveniles with the exception of the hatchlings from the one nest from this year. This is a bit concerning as it suggests recruitment is low.

Further work needs to be done and more long-term data must be collected to determine exactly what is going on here. Additionally, comparative data with sites further downstream would be informative.

Back you go – and thanks for the info

In all this was a very successful preliminary examination of the crocodile population in and around the TL2 landscape. We demonstrated that Imame is an important site worth further protection and, in fact, the local Chombe Kilima community has already agreed to support this effort by preventing further fishing at the site. We have collected some preliminary information regarding the dwarf crocodile fishery, which will prove important in devising a plan and protocol for further study. And the samples collected from both crocodile species will be the first ever analyzed from within the arc of the Congo River. These will certainly prove informative about the evolutionary history of crocodiles in this region.

Related posts:

1. Ancestors along the Lomami of Central Congo Embrace the Future Park