The Congo Basin is a priority place for WWF. It’s the 2nd largest rain forest in the world after the Amazon, and the special part, other than the sheer remoteness and absolute wilderness filled with much undiscovered, undocumented flora and fauna, is the uniqueness of the wildlife here. The western lowland gorilla, while looking very similar to the eastern mountain gorilla to the average eye, is a bit smaller and has a reddish color to the hair. They are more arboreal than mountain gorillas and, as the name would suggest, more adapted to lower altitudes than the mountain gorillas of Uganda, Rwanda and the Virunga Mountains in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). They are one of four subspecies of gorilla, and the one thought to be in the highest abundance, yet also considered more endangered than mountain gorillas–which number fewer than 900–due to the bushmeat trade.  Congo is also home to forest adapted elephant, buffalo and other primate species, such as chimpanzee, gray cheeked mangabey, colobus monkey and others. Birdlife is incredible, and new species of plants and insects are discovered continually. There’s no other place quite like this wild tract of forest and its fauna!

Ready to see it all for yourself? Watch this beautifully shot one-minute video of the Congo Basin’s diverse wildlife and breathtaking landscapes.  Nat Hab & WWF run two Congo Adventures each September — we’d love to see you out there!

Travel to the Congo Basin with Nat Hab & WWF.

This guest post was written by Megan Bryant, Africa Adventure Director at Natural Habitat Adventures.