An MK Wildlife Researcher

Recently I spent a week in the forest at the WWF wildlife research center, Bai Hoku, which is located about 15 miles away from the Mission Center here in Bayanga where we live. I did it because it may be something I'd be interested in doing for a year or so further along the road, maybe after I graduate from college.

I spent a day marking off transects through the forest and recording all of the dung specimens found in each transect. The purpose of this 'treasure hunt' was to calculate the density of gorillas and elephants in the area. I also spent a morning in a gorilla nest site helping one of the girls map where each nest was in relation to the male gorilla's nest, and what kind of foliage it is near and made up of and all sorts of cool stuff like that. One interesting thing I learned was that gorillas always go to the bathroom right next to their nest every morning when they wake up. Dung specimens are taken from the nests to camp, and are then washed, and someone records what kind of fruit, termites, and leaves the gorillas are eating. At the moment there are two groups of gorillas that the Project is habituating, and I was able to see both groups which one of them is off-limits to tourists.

The exciting news about the most habituated group, Mounya, was that a female, Samba, had joined the lonely father-son group. I got to see her, and since she is not a habituated gorilla like the other two, she frequently barked loudly at us, and made several rushes at us to try to encourage the silver-back male to chase us away. He made several very believable "fake" charges at us to assure her that we were safe, and that he would protect her if anything that was actually dangerous attacked her. I had a wonderful time learning what a wildlife researcher's life is like.

- Josie, Central African Republic

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