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During a WCS study in Cameroon, elephants scattered up to 90 different tree species, and are therefore considered a significant factor in forest regeneration and restoration. With the ban on the sale of ivory recently lifted, conservationists must keep careful track of elephant populations to insure that they remain protected from poacher's guns.
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WCS In Africa - Overview
 The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has worked in the wilds of Africa since 1920, beginning with studies of white rhinos in South Africa by the Society's first president, William Hornaday. In 1959, WCS biologist George Schaller pioneered research of mountain gorillas in Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo). Today, WCS funds research, training and applied conservation in 20 African countries and supports more Africa-based field scientists than any other conservation organization.
In the greater rain forest ecosystem that extends throughout central Africa, WCS conducts more than 50 field conservation projects — a testimony to the global importance of one of the great wild places on Earth.
Central Africa Rain Forest Project Highlights
WCS is the only organization in the world conducting field studies on all three gorilla subspecies: mountain gorillas, Grauer's gorillas and western lowland gorillas,. In 1977, WCS researchers Amy Vedder and Bill Weber began an intensive study of mountain gorillas and the socio-economic pressures surrounding them in Rwanda. The results helped create the Mountain Gorilla Project, whose ongoing goals include eliminating poaching, promoting a public awareness campaign and creating ecotourism programs. Today, in the wake of recent unrest, WCS continues monitoring the approximately 320 mountain gorillas living in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire. In 1998, WCS published the results of the first comprehensive survey of Grauer's gorillas, finding a surprisingly robust population of 11,000 individuals living around Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo. Today, WCS focuses efforts on protecting these great apes from poacher's guns and habitat loss. Meanwhile, WCS oversees ongoing field projects on western lowland gorillas in Congo, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Gabon.
Nouabablé-Ndoki National Park, Congo
Created in 1993 with assistance from WCS, this one-million-acre protected area safeguards one of the largest remaining virgin rain forests on earth. It contains some of the highest densities of forest elephants, lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, leopards and bongos in Africa. Today, WCS works not only in the heart of the Ndoki, protecting it from poachers and illegal logging, but the outlying "buffer zone" as well. Here, WCS researchers have teamed with government officials and private companies to minimize damaging logging activities and illegal hunting of wildlife.
Nyungwe Forest Reserve, Rwanda
With 275 bird species, 13 primate varieties, and mammals ranging from leopards to forest pigs, the Nyungwe Forest Reserve in southwestern Rwanda reveals tourists to the wonders of the African forest. WCS and the Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks has established a visitor center and trained guards as part of the Nyungwe Forest Conservation project. Today, as Rwanda's struggles with unrest, WCS continues to support Nyungwe's protected-area staff which serve as the only institutional presence safeguarding this vital wildlife area.
CARPE Project
Known as the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, WCS is a partner of this 5-year, $14 million regional project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). CARPE works with Africans to reduce the rate of deforestation of tropical forests in the Congo Basin, and to conserve wildlife within them. WCS has taken on a leadership role among CARPE with regard to management of protected areas.
Lopé Reserve, Gabon
WCS Conservation Ecologist, Dr. Lee White, leads a team of researchers studying this botanically-rich forest ecosystem, home to elephants, lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, forest buffalo and the spectacular mandrill. In 1997, WCS began an intensive study of mandrill migrations by tracking individual animals with radio collars. For years, Lopé's unprecedented gatherings of hundreds of mandrills have puzzled scientists. WCS hopes to uncover more about the life history of these endangered primates, using data to expand protected areas to insure their survival in the wild.
Bangyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, Cameroon
In 1996, WCS and community leaders successfully lobbied Cameroon's government to establish the Bangyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary — the first such designation in the nation's history. Under the supervision of Cameroon's Ministry of Environment and Forests, WCS has helped establish a network of communities to manage the forest's resources within this 320-square mile protected area. To insure that Bangyang-Mbo remains safeguarded, commercial logging is now illegal within the sanctuary, and certain villages have banned outside hunters from operating in their regions.
Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Democratic Republic of Congo
WCS helped establish this 5,200 square-mile protected area in the heart of the tropical Ituri Forest in 1992, following extensive surveys by researchers John and Terese Hart. Their work revealed a wealth of wildlife, but also growing threats to the forest ecosystem from increased agriculture, hunting, logging and gold prospecting. Within the Ituri's borders roam not only its flagship species the Okapi — a mysterious forest-dwelling relative to the giraffe — but also duikers and forest elephants. Today, even as national political changes make conservation extremely difficult in the Democratic Republic of Congo, WCS conservation teams continue to provide training and employment to African conservationists who are the key to the country's future.
Forest Elephants in Central African Republic
WCS researcher Andrea Turkalo studies secretive forest elephants in clearings known as "bais". Using ear tears and body scars as the elephants' fingerprints, she has identified more than 2,400 individuals in a single clearing. So far, her research has revealed a complex social dynamic among these great beasts. WCS has also shown how elephants influence forest composition by dispersing seeds. During a WCS study in Cameroon, elephants scattered up to 90 different tree species, and are therefore considered a significant factor in forest regeneration and restoration. With the ban on the sale of ivory recently lifted, conservationists must keep careful track of elephant populations to insure that they remain protected from poacher's guns.
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