Lomami National Park- Congo Wildlife Safaris : 4×4 Africa

Lomami National Park is a national park found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa. Positioned in the middle basin of the Lomami River, the park stretches in the provinces of Tshopo and Maniema with a slight overlap into the forests of the Tshuapa and Lualaba river basins. The park is the ninth national park in Congo and was formally declared on 7 July 2016.

Lomami National Park covers an area of approximately 8,879 square kilometers of tropical lowland rainforests with savannah islands in the south and hills in the west. The park is a home to numerous endemic species including the Bonobo, Congo peafowl, Okapi and the recent discovered primate species called Lesula and the rare Dryas monkey locally known as the Inoko. In the northern sector of the park, there is an important protected area for the African forest elephants.

Lomami National Park is located in two provinces – Tshopo and Maniema. The park lies in south of Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province and northwest of Kindu, the capital of Maniema province. Lomami River forms the western boundary at the southern limit of the park and flows through the center of the northern part of the park. River Lomami is a biogeographic barrier and has influenced the evolution of the wildlife in the region. The other rivers in the park – Tshuapa and Lualaba define the general east west limits of the TL2 landscape.

Local people around the park

Lomami National Park is surrounded by people who belong primarily to seven different ethnic groups – Lengola, Mbole, Mituku, Tetela, Langa, Ngemgele and Arabise. The people live on activities like agriculture, fishing and hunting.

Wildlife of the park

Lomami National Park is a home to a variety of wildlife including the bonobos in the east bank of the river of Lomami. Other important populations of rare animals can be sighted in the different sectors of the park. Among these include more than 500 African forest elephants which are sighted in the northern forests of the park and also the Okapi, the rainforest giraffe and the Congolese endemic which only occurs on the west bank of the Lomami river. In the south of the park, there is the Dryas monkey which is only from Maniema province and on the right bank of the Lomami River. The park is mostly known for its apes and monkey species including the Tshuapa red colobus, Lomami red colobus, northern black mangabey, Katanga red tailed monkey, yellow nosed red tailed monkey, Sclater’s Angolan colobus, Lomami river blue monkey, Lesula, Dryas monkey, Lomami river wolf’s monkey, De Brazza’s monkey and many others.

Bird species

Lomami National Park is a home to a number of bird species and these can easily be sighted along the river banks and in the park forests. Among the birds in the park include the crested Guineafowl, blue headed wood dove, Bates’s Nightjar, western bronze napped pigeon, black bellied bustard, black cuckoo, black billed turaco, black headed heron, olive sunbird, western nicator, white breasted Negrofinch, spotted Greenbul, yellow whiskered Greenbul, Eastern bearded Greenbul and many others.