Ghosts of Congo's Forests: Nouabalé-Ndoki’s forest creatures caught on camera
Ghosts of Congo's Forests: Nouabalé-Ndoki’s forest creatures caught on
camera
Africa Geographic
March 13, 2025
See link
https://africageographic.com/stories/ghosts-of-congo-nouabale-ndoki-forest-creatures-caught-on-camera
for photos.
Deep in the heart of the Congo Basin, amidst the dense rainforests of
Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, photographer Will Burrard-Lucas embarked on a
mission: to unveil the hidden lives of the forest’s most elusive creatures.
Through a year-long camera-trapping project, Burrard-Lucas, with the
support of the Wildlife Conservation Society, has captured rare,
high-definition images of the park’s remarkable wildlife. His feats include
capturing images of the rarely seen African golden cat, and the forest’s
apex predator: the enigmatic leopard.
Secrets of the Nouabalé-Ndoki Rainforest
“Tropical rainforests don’t give up their secrets easily,” says Emma
Stokes, vice president of Field Conservation at WCS (Wildlife Conservation
Society), which has for 30 years collaborated with the Congolese Government
to administer and protect the park and its buffer zone. “You can spend
years walking through these forests without seeing much of the
extraordinary wildlife that lives there. You only know it’s there by the
signs it leaves behind.”
Nouabalé-Ndoki, a pristine wilderness in northern Congo-Brazzaville, is one
of the last untouched refuges for many rare species. Its towering trees,
murky swamps, and dense undergrowth provide sanctuary for creatures seldom
seen: red river hogs, duikers, golden cats, and, of course, the
ever-elusive leopard. For Burrard-Lucas, it was the ultimate challenge.
“The parks stands as one of the best examples of a pristine forest
ecosystem in the Congo Basin. There are no roads within Nouabalé-Ndoki, the
trees have never been logged, and the interior still harbours animals that
have had little or no contact with people,” he says.
“Wherever you go, you get the sense that wildlife lurks just out of sight,
behind the veil of vegetation,” he explains. “One of the animals that I was
most keen to photograph was a leopard… The mere possibility of capturing a
photograph of such an elusive creature was incredibly exciting.”
Heart of the Forest
Burrard-Lucas’ journey to Nouabalé-Ndoki was no easy feat. After a
gruelling 12-hour drive from Brazzaville to Ouesso, he continued by boat up
the Sangha River to Bomassa, to the park’s headquarters. From there, a 21km
trek through waist-deep swamps – guided by expert Bayaka trackers – was
required to reach the remote research camps where his Camtraption camera
traps would be set. And navigating the forest comes with its own
challenges, such as stumbling on elephants that are well-concealed by the
forest, and needing to keep an eye out for western lowland gorillas.
“Occasionally, as you traipse through the forest, you might surprise a
silverback gorilla, and he will explode out of a thicket so suddenly,
screaming so loudly, that it makes your hair stand on end and your heart
pound out of your chest,” says Burrard-Lucas.
Throughout the project, cameras were set at three research sites, including
at Mbeli Baï, Goualougo and Mondika on the Central African Republic border.
Once in place, the camera traps faced their challenges. “Bad-tempered
elephants dismantled set-ups, colonies of ants devoured rubber seals, and
the intense humidity quickly took its toll on anything that wasn’t
meticulously sealed,” Burrard-Lucas recalls. Yet, despite the hardships,
the project delivered stunning results.
Capturing the Unseen of Nouabalé-Ndoki
The project yielded photos of many rainforest rarities, including water
chevrotain, yellow-backed duiker, black-footed mongoose, red river hog,
brush-tailed porcupine, Peter’s duiker, African palm civet, giant pangolin,
blue duiker, forest buffalo and forest elephants. Among the highlights was
a breathtaking shot of an African golden cat – one of Africa’s rarest and
most elusive felines. This marked the first time the species had been
captured in high definition in the wild in Congo.
But the crowning achievement was a single, electrifying image: a male
leopard captured prowling a secluded trail near Mbeli Baï. “It was a large
male, captured on a secluded trail near Mbeli Baï… and without a doubt, the
most magnificent specimen I have ever photographed,” says Burrard-Lucas.
Local trackers and researchers played a crucial role in identifying the
best locations for these camera traps.
“These photos are amazing,” says Seraphin Ngouna, who works on one of the
park’s research sites and belongs to a community native to the forest.
Ngouna, who maintained the cameras in the field, says, “I’m even happier to
know these pictures will be published for other people to see.”
Conservation Through Imagery
While scientific camera traps are often used to measure wildlife abundance,
Burrard-Lucas’ high-definition images do more than this: they connect
people to these hidden ecosystems and inspire conservation efforts.
“These photos celebrate unseen wildlife and call for action to protect it,”
says Sabine Plattner, owner of Kamba Africa, which partnered with the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Nouabalé-Ndoki tourism
development program to initiate the project with the photographer. “Through
these images, visitors can see what life is like in the forest and the type
of animals that inhabit it.”
Amongst some of the finds captured by the camera traps was a chimpanzee
mother “fishing for termites” at a termite mound in Goualougo while sitting
with her baby (details and pictures of which are yet to be published by
WCS). This fishing technique entails chimpanzees placing a stick into the
mound and waiting for termites to cling to it before eating them. “The
resulting photos of her feeding while her baby watched – the passing on of
this specialised technique from one generation to the next – made all the
hard work worthwhile.”
From documenting termite-fishing chimpanzees to capturing the raw power of
a rainforest storm, the camera-trap project offers a rare window into the
wild heart of Africa. “Many of the animals photographed remain poorly
studied, yet their survival is already threatened by habitat loss,” says
Burrard-Lucas. “Every image is both a celebration of the forest’s richness
and a reminder of what is at stake if these ecosystems are not safeguarded.”
Yet, as Burrard-Lucas acknowledges, this is only the beginning.
“Even in a place as rich in wildlife as Nouabalé-Ndoki, some creatures
remain almost mythical – ghosts of the forest, rarely glimpsed even by
those who know it best,” he reflects. “I guess there’s nothing for it but
to return one day and see what additional secrets the rainforest might
yield.”