The wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo includes its flora and fauna, comprising a large biodiversity in rainforests, seasonally flooded forests and grasslands.

The country is considered one of the 17 megadiverse nations, and is one of the most flora rich countries on the African continent. Its rainforests harbour many rare and endemic species, such as the chimpanzee and the bonobo. It is home for more than 10,000 types of plants, 600 timber species, as well as 1,000 bird species, 280 reptile species, and 400 mammal species, including the forest elephant, gorilla, forest buffalo, bongo, and okapi. Many of these wildlife species are threatened animals such as large lowland gorillas and chimpanzees.

Five of the country's national parks are listed as World Heritage Sites: the Garumba, Kahuzi-Biega, Salonga and Virunga National Parks, and Okapi Wildlife Reserve. All five sites are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage In Danger.

Several environmental issues in the DRC threaten wildlife, including overhunting for bushmeat, deforestation, mining and armed conflict. The civil war and resultant poor economic conditions have endangered much of the country's biodiversity. Many park wardens were either killed or could not afford to continue their work.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to the endangered western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), the endangered eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla berengei graueri), the endangered mountain gorilla (gorilla beringei beringei), African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), and okapi (Okapia johnstoni).

Animals native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

Aardvark African brush-tailed porcupine African buffalo African bullfrog African civet African clawed frog African dwarf frog African golden cat African helmeted turtle African leopard African manatee African palm civet African rock python African soft-furred rat African softshell turtle African striped weasel African tree toad Allen's swamp monkey Angola colobus Aubry's flapshell turtle Ball python Banded mongoose Banded water cobra Bili ape Black-and-white colobus Black-collared lovebird Black mamba Black-necked spitting cobra Blue duiker Blue-headed wood dove Blue monkey Bohor reedbuck Bongo Bonobo Bushpig Cape bushbuck Cape hyrax Central African oyan Chameleon Chimpanzee Common agama Common duiker Common egg eater Common eland Congo peafowl Congo water cobra Crocodile Dwarf crocodile Nile crocodile Central African slender-snouted crocodile De Brazza's monkey Egyptian fruit bat African forest elephant Western gorilla Gaboon viper Gallagher's free-tailed bat Giant eland Giant forest hog Giant otter shrew Goliath beetle Grant's zebra Greater cane rat Greater kudu Great Lakes bush viper Green bush viper Green mamba Grey parrot Handsome spurfowl Hartebeest Hedgehog leaf-toed gecko Hippopotamus Honey badger Jameson's mamba Johnston's chameleon Katanga Mountain bush viper Kob Kordofan giraffe Leopard tortoise Lesser flamingo Lichtenstein's hartebeest Lion Many-banded snake Marabou stork Marsh mongoose Monitor lizard Angolan white-throated monitor Nile monitor Savannah monitor Moustached monkey Northern white rhinoceros Okapi Olive baboon Oribi Pangolin Giant pangolin Long-tailed pangolin Tree pangolin Patas monkey Puff adder Puku Red river hog Roan antelope Rock hyrax Rough-scaled bush viper Sable antelope Serval Side-striped jackal Sitatunga Southern reedbuck Spectral pygmy chameleon Spotted hyena Strange-horned chameleon Stuhlmann's golden mole Topi Tropical spiny agama Trumpeter hornbill Upemba lechwe Upemba mud turtle Warthog Waterbuck Yellow-backed duiker

Birds

Butterflies

Ants

There are 803 species of ant confirmed in the DRC, including the highly invasive ant Pheidole megacephala which originates from the country.

See also Centre National d'Appui au Développement et à la Participation populaire Acapoeta tanganicae Labeo simpsoni

References

External links A blog on bonobo research in Congo

The Digitised Flora of Central Africa