The Bili Forest is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

 in Central Africa

Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

 in the Bas-Uele District

Bas-Uele District

Bas-Uele District is a district located in Orientale Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.It includes the Aleti, Ango, Bambesa, Bondo, Buta and Poko territories. The principal town is Buta....

. It lies between the Ubangui River

Ubangi River

The Ubangi River , also spelled Oubangui, is the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River of Central Africa. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou and Uele Rivers and flows west, then bends to the southwest and passes through Bangui, after which it flows south to the Congo at Liranga....

 to the north and the Uele River

Uele River

The Uele River, also spelled Welle River, is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It originates in the mountains near Lake Albert and flows west for about to join the Mbomou River at Yakoma....

 to the south, and is named after the small nearby town of Bili (coordinates 4°9'N 25°10'E) which is about 200 km east of Bondo

Bondo, DR Congo

Bondo is a town in north-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Bas-Uele District, Orientale Province, about 200 km north-west of Buta. Bondo lies mainly on the north bank of the Uele River. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 19,601....

 and 250 km north of Buta

Buta

Buta is a town and seat of Buta Territory in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo, lying on the Rubi River, a tributary of the Itimbiri River. It is headquarters of the Bas-Uele District, Orientale Province...

. Bondo and Bili are accessible only by earth tracks impassable after rain (the Vicicongo narrow gauge railway which served the region is defunct). The region is very unstable and virtually lawless, due to a lack of governmental services as the country recovers slowly from civil warfare. Human encroachment into the region, other than annual burning of the savannah

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

s, is minimal but hunting is prevalent.

The forest comprises a complex mosaic habitat, consisting of savannah, savannah-woodland, regenerating forest and gallery forest. The area is rich in African fauna typifying both savannah and forest habitats, including: elephant

Elephant

Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...

s, lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

s, hyena

Hyena

Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...

s, leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

s, giant forest hog

Giant forest hog

The Giant Forest Hog is native to wooded habitats in Africa and generally is considered the largest wild member of the Suidae . Despite its large size and relatively wide distribution, it was only described by scientists in 1904...

s, giant pangolin

Giant Pangolin

The Giant Pangolin is a pangolin species. Members of the species inhabit Africa with a range stretching along the equator from west Africa to Uganda. The Giant Pangolin is the largest species of pangolin, or "scaly anteaters" – the large, scaled mammals belonging to the Manidae family. It...

, baboon

Baboon

Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...

s, grey-cheeked mangabey

Grey-cheeked Mangabey

The grey-cheeked mangabey is an Old World monkey found in the forests of Central Africa. It ranges from Cameroon down to Gabon. The grey-cheeked mangabey is a dark monkey, looking in shape overall like a small, hairy baboon. Its thick brown fur is almost black in its forest home, with a slightly...

s, red-tailed guenons, and buffalo

African Buffalo

The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...

.

In addition, a population of great apes living in the Bili Forest has intrigued experts. Known as the 'Bili Ape

Bili Ape

Bili Ape, also Bondo Mystery Ape, is the name given to a large chimpanzee that inhabits Bili Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....

s' or 'Bondo Mystery Apes', they appear to blend characteristics of chimpanzee

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...

s and gorilla

Gorilla

Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...

s. Initial results from mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...

 analysis indicate that they are chimpanzees.

There is a very serious problem of bush meat poaching in the Bili Forest, affecting the elephant and chimpanzee populations. If the forest's chimpanzees and habitat are to be protected effectively, a serious conservation project is imperative.

External links

• Hicks, Cleve. "The Bili Chimpanzees" on The Wasmoeth Wildlife Foundation website - Please see Cleve Hicks' new updates on this site, 'Field Season 2004-2005: Into the World of the Bili Apes,' and 'Field Season 2006-2007: A New Beginning.' Photos and films of the Bili apes are presented to the public for the first time.
• Hicks, Cleve. "The Bili Apes Are in Trouble!". September 17, 2007. The Bili area has been invaded by gold miners, putting at risk the Bili apes and their pristine habitat. A report by Cleve Hicks of the Bili Apes Project, at Richard Dawkins.net (also available, with photos, at the Friends of Washoe site http://www.friendsofwashoe.org/action_alerts_current_info.shtml)
• KarlAmmann.com - The Bondo Mystery Apes: Winter 2004 Field Data
• Primates.com - Seeking answers to big 'mystery ape'
• WorldWildlife.org - Congo Basin: About the Region
• NationalGeographic.com - Elusive African Apes: Giant Chimps or New Species?
• JaneGoodall.org - Jane Goodall Institute
• Animal-Rights-Library.com - Jane Goodall: Chimpanzees - Bridging the Gap