The Revealed

Category: About the project, Activities of The Revealed, Central African Republic, Gorillas in wild | Date: May 21 2009 | By: therevealed

M. Bobek, J. Jirátová, P. Hanzelková, 21 May 2009

Three years we observed gorillas in Prague Zoo. We wanted to present their stories so that people identify with them and understand how important is to help conservation of gorillas in wild. Like this we get to Africa. Within the project The Revealed we try to bring informations about african wildlife and its conservation but also raise funds for that purposes (as I wrote below, we published the Gorilla stories book, we supported educational project in villages north of Dja and now we would like to equip the ecoquards in Djoum).

During our trip to Africa we made a lot of  interviews with people who work in field and here is one of them… An interview with primatologist Daniela Hedwig.

In a remote corner of the Central African Republic, in a tropical rain forest on the border with Cameroon and Congo lies research camp Bai Hokou. There, behind a barbed-wire fence that provides the only but not always reliable protection against forest elephants, stand some fifteen wooden lodges for researchers and Pygmy scouts. At the time of our visit, there was only one European there: Daniela Hedwig from the Max Planck Evolutionary Biology Institute in Leipzig, Germany. She came for the same reason as we - a human-habituated troop of western lowland gorillas, but three months earlier and will stay for almost a year.

You are conducting research into gorillas in very tough conditions. Why have you come here and what motivates you?

It’s hard to tell… This is something I always wanted to do. Of course, I love nature - I studied biology and zoology - but I always wanted to work with gorillas. This is the only answer I can give… It’s wonderful to watch gorillas and meet them personally because each of them has a different character. It is also very important to raise awareness about them, especially about western lowland gorillas, because we do not know much about them.

What is your research about?

I focus on vocal communication in gorillas. I have a digital recording device and for one hour, I monitor one member of the troop, recording all his or her vocal communications. At the same time, I record data about the context of each utterance.

What do you see as the most interesting finding?

I worked with mountain gorillas for several years and now I am here to work with western lowland gorillas and compare vocal communication of the two species. And I see it as extremely interesting. Western lowland gorillas are completely different from mountain gorillas. Their vocal expression is different, as is their behaviour in general. Since I came here I’ve eventually been able to see how theories work in practice - how it all works in the wild, how the environment shapes social behaviour in gorillas. For instance, mountain gorillas must compete for food because they always keep together, know about each other, rest together, groom each other. Here, it is different. Females will leave the troop with a silverback, they will spread in all directions, so they do not need to fight for food among themselves.

Can you describe your typical day at Bai Hokou?

I normally wake up at six, have a light breakfast and go to the forest. I usually go with two Baka guides. We always start from the same place where we left the gorillas the previous day and proceed to the night nests. The gorillas are always nearby. It takes about an hour, sometimes two to find them. When we find them, we stay with them the whole morning, or until another group comes to stay with the gorillas for the afternoon. So, when I set off so early in the morning, I return at around two in the afternoon and then save data and do a lot of other tasks, such as washing clothes, cooking and so on.

Do you go to the forest when it is raining, like today?

No, I don’t. We always have to wait for the rain to recede, because the Baka, our guides, wouldn’t otherwise hear elephants and we could come across them unexpectedly, which is very dangerous.