Who lives in the Congo rainforest?
The Congo rainforest is full of life and animals that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. It has 600 species of trees and 10,000 animal species. The rainforest is so dense that many parts have never been explored by humans.
The common chimpanzee and the bonobo chimpanzee (the animal that is most similar to human beings) live only in the Congo rainforest. The Congo rainforest is the only place to shelter all three subspecies of gorilla: the lowland gorilla, the endemic eastern lowland gorilla and the endangered mountain gorilla.
A variety of snakes roam the forest and Hippopotamus live in the Congo river. African forest elephants, black colobus monkeys, the Congo peafowl and the unusual okapi are other animals that can be spotted in this rainforest. The okapi is related to the giraffe but it looks like a cross between a zebra with a stripy bottom and legs.
The Congo rainforest and river provide food, fresh water and shelter to more than 75 million people. The most famous people that live in the Congo rainforest are the pygmies. They are known for being very small, rarely reaching higher than 5 feet tall. Their small height helps them move through the rainforest much easier.
Threats to the Congo rainforest
Deforestation is one of the biggest threats in the Congo rainforest.
Logging, farming, bushmeat hunting and mineral and oil extraction are endangering the ecosystem.
The Congo is rich in wood, oil, diamonds, gold and coltan (used to make mobile phones). The global demand for these materials is increasing and so more and more of the rainforest is being destroyed. Teak trees are common in the Congo rainforest and are in high demand for their wood.
Industrial logging has been the biggest cause of deforestation. Logging roads have also opened up areas of the rainforest to hunting and lead to poaching in some areas. Although this rainforest is not being destroyed as badly as the Amazon rainforest, more than 60% of the forest elephant population has dropped in less than 10 years.
Hunting and poaching continue to endanger many of the animals.
Did you know?
- In the densest parts of the Congo rainforest only 1% of the sunlight reaches the ground.
- Central Africa lost 91,000 square kilometres of rainforest due to deforestation between 1990 and 2000.
