Salonga National Park
Encyclopedia
Salonga National Park is a national park
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
located in the Congo River
basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest
reserve covering about 36,000 km². Animals in the park include bonobo
s, Salonga monkeys
, Tshuapa red colobus, Zaire peacocks, forest elephants, and African slender-snouted crocodile
s. It was inscribed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
in 1984. Due to the civil war in the eastern half of the country, it was added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1999.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
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...
located in the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
reserve covering about 36,000 km². Animals in the park include bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
s, Salonga monkeys
Dryas Monkey
The Dryas monkey , also known as Salonga monkey or ntolu, is a little-known species of guenon found only in the Congo Basin, restricted to the left bank of the Congo River. It is now established that the animals previously classified as Cercopithecus salongo were in fact Dryas monkeys...
, Tshuapa red colobus, Zaire peacocks, forest elephants, and African slender-snouted crocodile
Slender-snouted Crocodile
The African Slender-snouted Crocodile is a species of crocodile. Recent studies in DNA and morphology suggest that it may belong in its own genus, Mecistops, but at present most continue to use Crocodylus for this species.African Slender-snouted Crocodile are native to freshwater habitats in...
s. It was inscribed as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 1984. Due to the civil war in the eastern half of the country, it was added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1999.