Mbeli Bai
{{Short description|Freshwater swamp forest in the Republic of the Congo}}
{{Expand Catalan|date=February 2024}}{{Infobox protected area
| name = Mbeli Bai
| photo = File:Forest elephants (6841454698).jpg
| photo_caption = African forest elephants in Mbeli Bai, 2011
| map = Republic of the Congo
| area = 12.9 hectares
| established = 1993
| governing_body = Wildlife Conservation Society{{br}}Ministry of Forest Economy and Environment
| coordinates = {{coord|2.2583|N|16.4117|E|source:wikidata|display=title,inline}}
| map_caption = Location of Mbeli Bai
| relief = Yes
| location = Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park
| nearest_city = Ouésso, Republic of the Congo
}}
Mbeli Bai is a 12.9 hectare protected freshwater swamp forest, part of the Sangha Trinational Forest and the Western Congolian swamp forests ecoregion, in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of the Congo. The area is commonly used for research on wild gorillas and elephants.
History
In 1993, the Wildlife Conservation Society, together with the Ministry of Forest Economy and Environment, protected the swamp from human settlement.{{Cite book |last1=Minteer |first1=Ben A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLtSDwAAQBAJ&dq=Mbeli+Bai&pg=PA147 |title=The Ark and Beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation |last2=Maienschein |first2=Jane |last3=Collins |first3=James P. |date=2018-02-23 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-53863-1 |language=en}} The area is inhabited by African forest elephants, sitatunga, black-and-white colobus monkeys, Congo clawless and spotted-necked otter, and around 226 western lowland gorillas{{Cite web |date=2022-09-30 |title=Nouabale-Ndoki National Park |url=https://congo.wcs.org/Wild-Places/Nouabale-Ndoki-National-Park.aspx |access-date=2024-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930173722/https://congo.wcs.org/Wild-Places/Nouabale-Ndoki-National-Park.aspx |archive-date=2022-09-30 }} found in groups of between 2 and 16 individuals.{{Cite journal |last1=Robbins |first1=Andrew M. |last2=Manguette |first2=Marie L. |last3=Breuer |first3=Thomas |last4=Groenenberg |first4=Milou |last5=Parnell |first5=Richard J. |last6=Stephan |first6=Claudia |last7=Stokes |first7=Emma J. |last8=Robbins |first8=Martha M. |date=2022-10-19 |title=Population dynamics of western gorillas at Mbeli Bai |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=17 |issue=10 |pages=e0275635 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0275635 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=9581538 |pmid=36260834|bibcode=2022PLoSO..1775635R }}
Animal research
Mbeli Bai is commonly used for animal research. Since February 1995, researchers working for Mbeli Bai's research group, Mbeli Bai Study (MBS), have been monitoring the animals in Mbeli Bai. The Mbeli Bai Study is funded by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Cologne Zoological Garden, the Dublin Zoo, the Toronto zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Woodland Park Zoo, in exchange for receiving animals.{{Cite journal |last1=Breuer |first1=T. |last2=Manguette |first2=M. |last3=Groenenberg |first3=M. |date=2018-03-02 |title=Gorilla Gorilla spp conservation – from zoos to the field and back: examples from the Mbeli Bai Study |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/izy.12181 |journal=International Zoo Yearbook |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=137–149 |doi=10.1111/izy.12181 |issn=0074-9664}}{{Cite journal |last1=Manguette |first1=Marie L. |last2=Greenway |first2=Kelly W. |last3=Kandza |first3=Vidrige H. |last4=Hockemba |first4=Mireille Breuer-Ndoundou |last5=Franck B. |first5=Franck B. |last6=Parnell |first6=Richard J. |last7=Breuer |first7=Thomas |title=Life-history patterns of the Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) at Mbeli Bai, northern Congo |url=https://www.eva.mpg.de/documents/Wiley-Blackwell/Manguette_Life-history_AfrJEcol_2017_2451224.pdf |journal=African Journal of Ecology|date=2017 |volume=55 |issue=2 |page=244 |doi=10.1111/aje.12321 |bibcode=2017AfJEc..55..244M }}
More than 330 gorillas have been monitored spanning more than 1750 gorilla years of around 55 groups of silverback gorillas. The researchers monitored gorilla socialisation{{Cite journal | last1 = Parnell | first1 = R. J. | last2 = Buchanan-Smith | first2 = H. M. | title = Animal behaviour. An unusual social display by gorillas | journal = Nature | volume = 412 | issue = 6844 | pages = 294 | doi = 10.1038/35085631 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11460152| s2cid = 4338851 | doi-access = free }} and power structures{{Cite journal |last=Parnell |first=Richard J. |date=2002-03-07 |title=Group size and structure in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Mbeli Bai, Republic of Congo |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajp.1074 |journal=American Journal of Primatology |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=193–206 |doi=10.1002/ajp.1074 |pmid=11948636 |s2cid=41772518 |issn=0275-2565}}{{Cite web |date=2019-07-10 |title=Gorillas found to live in 'complex' societies, suggesting deep roots of human social evolution |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/gorillasociety |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=University of Cambridge |language=en}} and the first tool use by gorillas.{{Cite journal | last1 = Breuer | first1 = T. | last2 = Ndoundou-Hockemba | first2 = M. | last3 = Fishlock | first3 = V. | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030380 | title = First Observation of Tool Use in Wild Gorillas | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 3 | issue = 11 | pages = e380 | year = 2005 | pmid = 16187795| pmc =1236726 | doi-access = free }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030385 | title = Wild Gorillas Handy with a Stick | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 3 | issue = 11 | pages = e385 | year = 2005 | pmc =1236727 | doi-access = free }}{{Cite news |date=29 September 2005 |title=Wild gorillas spotted using tools for first time |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9535875 |work=NBC}}
Poaching
The area had some elephant poaching during the 1990s.{{Cite book |last1=Robbins |first1=Martha M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzljzA3ydH4C&dq=Mbeli+Bai&pg=PA117 |title=Among African Apes: Stories and Photos from the Field |last2=Boesch |first2=Christophe |date=2011-06-13 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-26710-7 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Mbeli Bai, N. Congo |url=https://pages.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/apesites/MbeliBai/MbeliBai.html |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=pages.ucsd.edu}} During the late 2000s and the 2010s, a poaching group led by Guyvanho killed around 500 elephants in the area. On August 19, 2020, he and his group were arrested, and Guyvanho was sentenced to 30 years in prison.{{Cite news |last=Cockburn |first=Harry |date=16 August 2020 |title=Congo elephant poacher jailed for 30 years in landmark case |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/congo-elephant-poacher-jailed-ivory-mobanza-gerard-guyvanho-a9688921.html |work=The Independent}}{{Cite journal | last1 = Gross | first1 = L. | title = In the Shadows of the Congo Basin Forest, Elephants Fall to the Illegal Ivory Trade | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050115 | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 5 | issue = 4 | pages = e115 | year = 2007 | pmid = 20076667| pmc =1845160 | doi-access = free }}
Gallery
File:Mapa mbelibai2.png|Mbeli Bai on a map
File:Gorrila tool use-Efi2.jpg|Female western lowland gorilla Efi, the first gorilla spotted using tools, Mbeli Bai, 2005
File:African elephant, Mbeli-Bai, Republic of Congo (18320426684).jpg|Elephant in marsh, Mbeli Bai, 2015. Photo by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
References
{{reflist|2}}