page_title: Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve
section_title: Research and tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve / Research and tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), with young. Bronx Zoo, New York City.
context_page_description: The Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve is a protected reserve of southwestern Central African Republic. It was established in 1990 and covers 6865.54 km². It is one of several areas within the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas, each within its own protective status and along with Lobéké National Park in Cameroon and Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Republic of Congo, it is part of the Sangha Trinational Landscape. Other areas within the DSCPA include the Dzanga Ndoki National Park which has two sectors, the 495 km² Dzanga park and the 725 km² Ndoki park. A conference of the Ministers of Forests of Central African Forest Commission had resolved to establish within the Congo basin, the Sangha River Tri-national Protected area encompassing these three parks. The forest special reserve is operated by the Central African Forest Commission.
context_section_description: In 1997, the WWF has been involved with the Dzanga-Sangha Primate Habituation Program in the park. Since 2001, working with local Baka people and other interests it has facilitated "gorilla tourism" in the park, permitting tourists to approach and spend time with a family of gorillas. Between late 2001 and 2006, over 700 visitors observed the habituated gorilla groups at Bai Hokou.
  In 2001, a book was published entitled Inside the Dzanga Sangha Rain Forest: Exploring the Heart of Central Africa, which follows a team of scientists, artists, and filmmakers searching for the lowland gorilla, leopards, and rare birds and insects.
  Cornell University researcher Katy Payne began the Elephant Listening Project in a clearing within the dense forest special reserve. A series of digital recorders that are powered by car batteries are picking up very low frequency sounds of elephants, wind and thunder, thus building an "elephant dictionary" to assist elephant researchers.
caption: Western lowland gorilla (image taken at the Bronx Zoo). Gorillas have generated an income for the reserve through eco-tourism.
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