ROC's Mbeli Camp and Western Lowland Gorilla Study

On a Congo gorilla safari guests spend two nights at Mbeli Camp. After an early breakfast, they take a forty minute walk through the forest to where a nine-meter high observation tower has been built over a bai, a 13 hectare swampy clearing in the forest. This is where they spend the day, observing what wildlife frequents the bai, just like the resident Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists of Mbeli Camp, who have probably beaten visitors to the platform and have already settled in with their spotting scopes on a private platform above the tower's main floor.

Of several forest clearings in the area, Mbeli's is the largest and center of the park's wildlife demographics study, in particular of western lowland gorillas, which has been continuous since 1995. The fact that gorillas congregate at the bai to feed on a protein-packed aquatic plant makes them easier to study than in the forest where it is difficult to see them. At Mbeli, the gorillas are now accustomed to being observed from the platform. Over the last eight years, scientists have compiled long term records on group size and composition. It is the most complete demographic data compiled to date on western lowland gorillas. Some watershed observations at Mbeli include a female called Leah testing the depth of water using a stick as a tool, and of the same female Leah having face-to-face copulation with a male called George.

Fifteen family groups, 10 solitary silverbacks, and around 150 individuals total are known to Mbeli researchers. Around 25 percent of the gorilla population is under six years of age which means that the community is healthy and reproducing. Scientists say it takes about three months to recognize all the gorillas individually. They identify them by noting the shapes of their brows, ears and "nose prints". The nose print is particularly important because each is as unique as our human fingerprints.

Here is some gorilla observation terminology you might find helpful at Mbeli:

- SSB: solitary silverback
- ASB: adult silverback: 18 + years
- YSB: young silverback: 14 to 18 years
- AF: adult female: 11 + years
- SAD: sub adult: eight to 11 years
- Juvenile: four to 7.9 years
- Infant: not yet weaned: zero to 3.7 years
- RG: reproductive group: groups with fertile females
- NRG: non-reproductive group: groups without fertile females

29-08-2008