Dzanga Sangha - Introduction
Dzanga Sangha - Introduction
American Museum of Natural History
Going to Dzanga Sangha
Part of the Congo Basin rain forest, the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Reserve is home to large concentrations of forest elephants, lowland gorillas, and countless other animal species. Many of the region''s plants and animals may not exist anywhere else, and most of these species--perhaps as much as 90%--have yet to be discovered by scientists.
In the summer of 1998, eleven scientists from the Museum spent five weeks in the Dzanga Sangha rain forest. They sampled its biodiversity, recording approximately thirty species new to the area, and worked with the park personnel who live in the reserve. One find, a robin with a brightly colored throat and belly, was recognized as a whole new species after ornithologists compared it to other specimens back in New York.
Whether a bird, a beetle, or a blossom, every specimen is carefully described and documented. Because it's the only way to determine whether a species is endangered or an ecosystem has changed, this baseline data forms the foundation of any sound conservation effort. The rapid and increasing rate of species loss makes this scientific inventory--the only permanent record of the world's biodiversity--vitally important.
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