CONSERVATION
Rainforest Raptors in
the Heart of Africa
THE AUTHORs
Gus Keys and Rebecca
Johnson are ecologists from
Scotland. They worked for many years for
the Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds, Gus managing nature reserves and
Rebecca working to try and save some of
Scotland’s most threatened species. They
recently spent a year travelling through
Africa, volunteering and carrying out
research on the trip of a lifetime. Their
expedition to the Central African Republic
to survey birds of prey was the final
part of their adventure.
The Dzanga-Sangha Forest
32 SWARA JULY -SEPTEMBER 2012
A
s we dropped down towards
the town of Bayanga in our tiny
plane, we could hardly believe
that we were finally on our way to the
mysterious Central African Republic.
Through the clouds we could see the
vast forests of Dzanga-Sangha spreading
out in the distance, cloaking the hills
with countless species of tree. Circling
lower, our travel companion and host
Rod Cassidy spotted a Forest Elephant
far below us in a ‘bai’; one of the
naturally open areas which punctuate
the virtually impenetrable rainforest.
Rod explained that these bais are great
areas in which to spot wildlife including,
we hoped, birds of prey.
The Central African Republic (also
known as CAR) is located on the northwestern edge of the Congo Basin. With
an area of over 600,000 km2 it is bigger
than Kenya but, even within Africa, it
is relatively unknown. Landlocked and
without mountains, it still is one of the
most diverse countries on the continent
with habitats ranging from the dry
deserts of the north to the wet rainforest
of the south. With a population of
less than 4 million, CAR has one of
the lowest population densities in the
world, with many areas being almost
empty of humans.
Around a tenth of the Central African
Republic’s land mass is designated as
some kind of protected area. One of
these is the 4000 km2 Dzanga-Sangha
Special Reserve in the rainforest in the
south-western corner of the country.
At the centre of the Special Reserve sits
the 1200 km2 Dzanga-Ndoki National
Park. The World Wide Fund For
Nature (WWF) and other international
conservation organisations are working
with the CAR government to protect this
area, which is part of the second largest
area of rainforest on Earth.
Dzanga-Sangha is most famous
for its iconic mammals, such as the
Western Lowland Gorilla, Forest
Elephant and Bongo Antelope. Although
The Authors by the Dzanga-Sangha sign
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CONSERVATION
TOP LEFT: Gus scans for raptors along the
river banks.
BELOW LEFT: Bird survey skills training with
students and trackers"
TOP RIGHT: Harrier Hawk in flight.
BELOW RIGHT: A 'bai', a naturally occurring
open area in the rainforest.
a large amount of research has been
carried out on these species, very few
formal studies have been made of the
nearly 400 species of birds found in
the Special Reserve. Dr Munir Virani,
Africa Programmes Director with The
Peregrine Fund, told us that he had
been keen to undertake a raptor project
in Dzanga-Sangha for many years, and
when friend and fellow birder Rod
Cassidy purchased Sangha Lodge in the
heart of the Special Reserve in 2009, the
idea became a reality. Fortunately for
us, we were the lucky people who were
getting to spend six weeks here in the
heart of Africa, trying to gain an insight
into some of the most under-studied
bird species in the world.
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The challenge that faced us was
how to go about finding these often
elusive forest-dwelling birds in their
dense rainforest habitat. Most raptors
are solitary and occupy large home
ranges, and also tend to be shy of
humans. Some species, such as Black
Sparrowhawk and Congo Serpent Eagle,
also spend much of their time perched
motionless amongst the foliage, waiting
to ambush their unsuspecting prey,
making them even harder to see. To
locate them, we walked slowly along
a network of line transects, following
small tracks and elephant trails through
the forest, scanning the towering trees
and dense understory for birds. We
were entirely reliant on our excellent
local BaAka guides, who amazed us with
their ability to navigate the forest. The
wide, winding Sangha River also turned
out to be an excellent transect route,
giving us a view of the forest edge where
raptors are often more easily seen.
Canoeing along the river in the early
morning or late afternoon, watching
Palm-nut Vultures soaring along the
forested banks, is an experience that
will not be quickly forgotten. The
natural forest clearings, bais, like the
one seen from the plane, did indeed
turn out to be invaluable during our
survey, providing us with breaks in the
dense forest from which we could spot
birds soaring above the canopy. The
most impressive (and useful, with its
SWARA JULY -SEPTEMBER 2012 33
CONSERVATION
LEFT: Gus walks on one of the survey
transects.
MIDDLE: An impressive Western Lowland
Gorilla silverback male.
TOP RIGHT: A Fraser's Eagle Owl near
Sangha Lodge.
BOTTOM: Forest Elephants at Dzanga Bai
34 SWARA JULY -SEPTEMBER 2012
raised viewing platform) was Dzanga
Bai, where in between raptor-spotting,
we were treated to the daily sight of
up to 100 Forest Elephants bathing in
the mineral-rich mud. The area nearby
also turned out to be a great spot for
nocturnal raptors, such as Vermiculated
Fishing Owl and Akun Eagle Owl.
During the survey, we recorded 20
different species of raptor. By far the
most common species was African
Harrier Hawk Polyboroides typus,
with a total of 71 separate records.
Another seven species were reasonably
common, with more than ten records
each; Palm Nut Vulture Gypohierax
angolensis, Black Kite Milvus migrans,
Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus
coronatus, African Wood Owl Strix
woodfordii, Cassin’s Hawk Eagle
Aquila africana, Lizard Buzzard
Kaupifalco monogrammicus, and
Vermiculated Fishing Owl Scotopelia
bouvieri. Less common species, with
six or less records, were African Cuckoo
Hawk Aviceda cuculoides, Bat Hawk
Macheiramphus alcinus, African
Goshawk Accipiter tachiro toussenelii,
Fraser’s Eagle Owl Bubo poensis,
Congo Serpent Eagle Dryotriorchis
spectabilis batesi, Long-tailed Hawk
Urotriorchis macrourus, and we had
single sightings of African Fish Eagle
Haliaeetus vocifer, Akun Eagle Owl
Bubo leucostictus, Black Sparrowhawk
Accipiter melanoleucus, Grey Kestrel
Falco ardosiaceus, Red-chested
Owlet Glaucidium tephronotum, and
Sandy Scops Owl Otus icterorhynchus
holerythrus. Unfortunately, we did not
get sightings of either Chestnut-flanked
Sparrowhawk Accipiter castanilius or
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk Accipiter
erythropus. Not surprising considering
that Accipiter species are notoriously
difficult to locate in tall, dense forest,
due to their inconspicuous behaviour.
It was striking to see the difference
in the species composition when
comparing the primary forest deep
in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park with
more disturbed forest habitats closer to
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CONSERVATION
The amazing team of BaAka trackers who made the survey possible.
Gus interviews villagers about raptors with
the help of Louis Sarno.
human habitation. We spent a couple
of invaluable weeks based at WWF’s
remote Bai Hokou Forest Camp, just a
few kilometres from the Congo border,
where a dedicated team of researchers,
volunteers, guides and BaAka trackers
work with a habituated group of
Western Lowland Gorillas. It was in
this area that we were treated to our
first views of Crowned Eagle, soaring
and displaying majestically above the
bais. It was also in this part of the
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forest that we finally heard two of the
most elusive species that we have been
trying to track down, Congo Serpent
Eagle and Long-tailed Hawk, both
heard calling from amongst the dense
understory. As well as finding different
raptor species in this more remote area,
we also saw many more raptors than
in similar dense forest habitats close
to areas of disturbance such as human
habitation. This suggests a significant
‘edge effect’ is having an impact in
Dzanga-Sangha, with raptors preferring
more isolated forest areas, which means
that increasing forest fragmentation is
likely to have a detrimental effect on the
number of raptors.
A longer and more extensive
survey would certainly provide more
information on the make-up of the
Dzanga-Sangha raptor community.
There is so much to be learnt and
further study would almost certainly
uncover new and exciting knowledge.
It is also vital in the long-term that
more is learnt about the abundance,
distribution and habitat requirements
of tropical forest raptors, as most of the
world's tropical rainforests are now
heavily exploited. More knowledge can
only help to inform decision-makers
about the importance of DzangaSangha for birds of prey, and could aid
its conservation in years to come.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to
The Peregrine Fund for providing a grant
to help conduct these studies under their
Africa Programme, and in particular Dr
Munir Virani, Africa Programmes Director,
for endless assistance, enthusiasm, patience
and friendship. Huge thanks to Rod Cassidy,
his son Alon, and all the staff at Sangha
Lodge; WWF staff in Bayanga and Bangui,
particularly Anna Feistner and Angelique
Todd; the Bai Hokou Forest Camp team,
particularly Kathryn Shutt, Michael Stoerger
and Barbora Kalousová; all the BaAka
trackers in Dzanga-Sangha for using their
incredible skills to help us find our way
through the forest; and Andrea Turkalo and
WCS staff at Dzanga Bai camp for kindly
letting us use their camp as a base for part
of our study.
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