Max Planck Institute

In 2005, the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in collaboration with Africa’s Eden, initiated a project for habituating wild lowland gorillas and chimpanzees within Loango National Park for the joint purposes of ecotourism and research.

Under the direction of Professor Christophe Boesch and Dr Martha Robbins, a team of researchers and ecoguides began the slow process of habituating these great apes with two objectives.

Objectives

The first objective was a scientific study of the sympatric populations of gorillas and chimpanzees that live side by side within the park. During the habituation process, emphasis was placed on differences in feeding ecology and habitat use between the two ape species. The researchers of Max Planck Institute (MPI) also researched the differences in social behavior and grouping patterns between the two species and among other populations of apes in Africa.

The second objective was to habituate two groups of gorillas and one community of chimpanzees for ecotourism purposes, allowing visitors the opportunity to see these animals in their natural environment.

Since 2014 one group of gorillas is habituated for both tourism and research. Since the beginning of 2016 Loango National Park is one of only a few places where it is possible to see habituated, wild western lowland gorillas.