A SUMMARY OF THE MAMMALS SEEN AT SANGHA LODGE AND ON TRIPS TAKEN INTO THE NATIONAL PARK AND SURROUNDS FROM SANGHA LODGE.
There are several large gaps and it is clear that we can easily expand on the number of mammals by adding activities to encourage searching for more species... Night walks night drives and trips by boat are the three ways that will increase this. Also more information is needed to help identify some of the more tricky species.
| Order Primates | |
| Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes | Heard regularly across the river from Sangha Lodge, seen once by tourists at First waterfall. |
| Gorilla Gorilla gorilla | Occasional seen on roads near the Sangha Lodge and heard regularly, best seen when going on a paid gorilla track to a habituated group. |
| Black-and-white Colobus Monkey Colobus guereza | heard and seen regularly from Sangha Lodge and at Bai Hoku and Dzanga bai. |
| Central African Red Colobus Colobus oustaleti | Seen once in Ndoki sector along the Sangha River. |
| Olive Baboon Papio anubis | Signs found in the savannah zone, very uncommon. never seen |
| Agile Mangabey Cercocebus agilis | Uncommon around Sangha Lodge and easy with the habituated group at bai Hoku |
| Grey-cheeked Mangabey Lophocebus albigena | Heard uncommonly near Sangha Lodge, but more easily found in the park. |
| Allens Swamp Monkey Allenopithicus nigroviridis | One recorded in Camera trap near Sangha Lodge, This is the only record for Central African Rep. |
| De Brazza’s Monkey Cercopithecus neglectus | Heard daily around the Sangha Lodge, seen when searched for. |
| Crowned Guenon Cercopithecus pogonias | Heard daily around the Sangha Lodge, seen when searched for. |
| Putty-nosed Monkey Cercopithecus nictitans | Heard daily around the Sangha Lodge, seen when searched for. |
| Moustached Monkey Cercopithecus cephus | Heard daily around the Sangha Lodge, seen when searched for. |
| Milne-Edwards’ potto (Perodicticus edwardsi) | Seen regularly on Night walks around Sangha Lodge. |
| Elegant Needle-clawed Galago | seen ocasionally on night walk near the lodge, Often heard. |
| Gabon Squirrel Galago Galago gabonensis | First seen By Vladimir Dinnets, since found to be regular on trails near camp. Call distictive. |
| Demidoffs Galagos Galagoides demidoff | Fairly common though easily confused with Thomases, always on forest edge and secondary scrub, heard near bar often. |
| Thomase's Galago Galagoides thomasi | heard easily but fairly difficult to see even with a spotlight. |
| Order Chiroptera | |
| Bergmans’ fruit-bat (Scotonycteris bergmansi) | Vladimir Dinets: A recently described species (split from S. zenkeri). Rare and local in the area according to IUCN. Three caught in one night (all within 30 min) in a mistnet set behind the SL office. |
| Woermann’s bat (Megaloglossus woermanni) | V. D. Widespread in the area according to IUCN. One seen feeding in a flowering tree near the beginning of River Trail at SL. |
| Moloney’s flat-headed bat (Mimetillus moloneyi) | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area; recorded in S DNNP. One seen at dusk flying along the bank of Sangha River at SL; easy to recognize as it looks like a kingfisher in flight. |
| Bocage’s myotis (Myotis bocagii) | Vladimir Dinets: Not known in the area according to IUCN. Three caught in a mistnet set across Babongo River at SL, all very low above the water. |
| Large-eared slit-faced bat (Nycteris macrotis) | Vladimir Dinets.Widespread in the area according to IUCN. Seven seen in the “porcupine cave” near SL |
| Intermediate slit-faced bat (Nycteris intermedia) | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area according to IUCN. One seen in Big Tree near Picathartes site. |
| Halcyon horseshoe bat (R. alcyone) | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area according to IUCN. One caught in a mistnet at the junction of North and Shortcut Trails at SL |
| Commersons leaf Nosed bat Hipposideros commersoni(gigas) | Seen and photographed once in my room at night. Large size make this easy to separate from other H. spp but recent taxonomy has split this into several spp, the one here we believe to be H.gigas. |
| Cyclops roundleaf bat (H. cyclops) | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area according to IUCN. A few seen day-roosting inside Big Tree near Picathartes site across Sangha River from SL. |
| Noak’s roundleaf bat (H. ruber) | There is a colony at BH |
| Benito roundleaf bat (H. beatus) | Widespread in the area according to IUCN. One caught in a mistnet at the junction of North and Shortcut Trails. |
| Sooty roundleaf bat (H. fuliginosus).. | V.D. Widespread in the area according to IUCN. One caught in a mistnet behind the SL office (ID a bit uncertain). |
| Hammer Bat Hypsignathus monstrosus | Heard nightly, seen occasionally if fruiting trees around Sangha Lodge |
| Golden Fruit Bat Casynicterus argennis | Seen and photographed once at a day roost across the river |
| Flying Calf Nanonycteris veldkampi | 2 occasions when spotlighting from the river at night. |
| Black Hawk Bat Saccolaimus peli | Seen easily at dusk around Sangha Lodge and Bayanga village. |
| Robbin's Yellow Bat Scotophillus nucella | I specimen flew into the dinning room Caught and Photographed 09/03/2012 |
| Bate's slit-faced bat Nycteris arge | Regular nocturnal visitors, often entering rooms at night to feed on trapped insects against the mosquito netting. |
| Hairy Slit-Faced Bat Nycteris hispida | Regular nocturnal visitors, often entering rooms at night to feed on trapped insects against the mosquito netting. |
| Horse shoe bats Spp. Rhinolophus spp. | One spp at least found dead in a room in Sangha Lodge, and species seen in a cave in the hills zone |
| Scotopholus spp. | Caught in the dinning room |
| Beatrix's Butterfly bat Glauconycteris beatrix | 27 august caught in the dinning room |
| Rodent – Order Rodentia | |
| African Dwarf Squirrel Myosciurus pumilio | seen a few times in the hill zone |
| Red Cheeked Rope Squirrel Funisciurus leucogenys | Found in mature forests away from water, common near SL. |
| Fire-footed Rope Squirrel Funisciurus pyrrhopus | Very common around Sangha Lodge |
| Thomases Rope Squirrel Funisciurus anerythrus | Very common around Sangha Lodge along rivers edge as well as Babongo. Never far from water. |
| Lady Burtons Rope Squirrel Funisciurus isabella | Very common around Sangha Lodge |
| Ribboned Rope Squirrel Funisciurus lemniscatus | First identified by Venkat Sankar, common around SL |
| Boehm's Squirrel Parxerus boehmi | Very common around Sangha Lodge |
| Green Squirrel Paraxerus poensis | Very common around Sangha Lodge |
| Red-legged Sun Squirrel Heliosciurus rufobrachium | Photgraphed well by a client recently, its similarity to green squirrel makes this squirrel easy to overlook. |
| Giant forest Squirrel Protoxerus stangeri | along the babongo river and across the Sangha river, not too hard to find |
| Beecroft's Anomalure Anomalurus beecrofti | seen Occasionally at night on walks |
| Lord Derby's Anomalure Anomalurus derbianus | Comon around lodge and staked out near Picathartes waterfalls. |
| Cameroon Scaly Tail Zenkerella insignis | One seen and Photographed by Vladimir Dinnets in feb 2017 near SL |
| Brush-tailed Porcupine Atherurus africanus | Seen when hunting with the Baáka, and seen once in a cave in the hill zone. |
| Marsh Cane Rat sp. Thryonomys sp. | Seen crossing the roads at night |
| Link Rat Deomys ferugeneus | Seen By Louise Sarno at his house in yandoumbe, common in the forest seen on camera traps from time to time. |
| Velvet Rat Colomys goslingi | Seen Once along Massesis trail Near SL in 2017 |
| Rusty Nosed Rat Oenomys hypoxanthus | Not Uncommon near SL in forest and Ginger around edge of camp. |
| Smoky dormouse Graphiurus nagtglasii | Common around SL, distictive call, could be mistaken for a Galago. |
| Small-eared Dormouse Graphiurus crassicaudatus | Mother with two young caught recently in a room. |
| Dollman’s tree mouse Prionomys batesi | Vladimir Dinets: Uncommon and local; not found in the area according to IUCN, but listed on DNNP website. One seen in dense vegetation near Babongo River at SL. |
| Shiny thicket rat Grammomys kuru | Vladimir Dinets: Shiny thicket rat (Grammomys kuru). Widespread in the area. One seen at night about 3 m above ground in dense undergrowth near the beginning of Northern Trail at SL. |
| Bearded wood mouse Hylomyscus aeta | Vladimir Dinets Widespread in the area. Three trapped in 8 trap-nights inside RC’s house at SL. One lived under the dining hall roof and could be seen at night feeding in nearby palm trees when there was no moonlight. |
| Allen’s wood mouse H. alleni | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area. One seen at night near the generator at SL. |
| Walter Verheyen's wood mouse H. walterverheyeni | Vladimir Dinets: Patchily distributed but locally common in the area. One trapped near Masesi’s Trail at SL. |
| Little wood mouse H. parvus | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area. One seen at night near the junction of Northern and Loop Trails at SL |
| Big-eared swamp rat Malacomys longipes | Vladimir Dinets: One animal and many tracks seen near the ponds at the end of Swamp Trail at SL |
| Jackson’s soft-furred mouse Praomys jacksoni | Vladimir Dinets: Widespread in the area; one seen at night near the end of Northern Trail at SL |
| Tiny Mouse spp. Mus spp.[minutoides?] | Only one seen in heavy rain in the forest at bai Hoku… tiny presumed to be Mus Minutoides, but the colour was black rather than the Fawn coloured ones I am used to in SA. |
| Target Rat Stochomys longicaudatus | Commonly caught in Sangha Lodge, a pest in our rooms from time to time. |
| Zebra mouse spp. Lemiscomys spp. | Seen often crossing roads during the day time in the Farm bush, seen once in Sangha Lodge when we first started renovating. |
| Giant Rat Cricetomys emini | Seen crossing the roads at night and on night walks, and nest holes found along forest trail identified by Baáka trackers. |
| Carvorous – Order Carnivora | |
| Congo Clawless Otter Aonyx congica | seen occasionally from the boat during transfers, |
| Spotted-necked Otter Lutra maculicollis | Seen occasionally from Sangha Lodge,also up the Yobe and Babongo rivers. |
| Servaline Genet Genetta servalina | Seen at night crossing roads |
| Large-spotted genet Genetta maculata | Seen at night crossing roads |
| African Civet Civettictis civetta (Viverra civetta) | Seen in the farmbush zone at night |
| African Palm Civet Nandinia binotata | Up to six animals feeding at any time when the fig trees are fruiting in Sangha Lodge. |
| Black-footed mongoose Bdeogale nigripes | One seen in Market, another caught by Ba'aka net hunting. |
| Flat Headed Cusimanse Crossarchus platycephalus | Seen long the babongo river trail and from sangha lodge deck during the dry season swimming in the river. Regular in small family parties along north trail and other trails. |
| Long Nosed Mongoose | Regular along trails but scarce. |
| Water Mongoose | Often seen in camera traps |
| Golden Cat Felis aurata | Signs found in the savannah zone Never seen |
| Leopard Panthera pardus | Signs found in several places , seen on only a few occasions by Andrea Turkalo and others. |
| Order Pholidota | |
| Long-tailed Pangolin Uromanis tetradactyla | Seen by Guests along the road near Bai Hoku during the middle of the day. Habituated animals near Sangha Lodge. |
| Tree Pangolin Phataginus tricuspis (Manis tricuspis) | Seen on Night walks from time to time around Sangha Lodge. |
| Giant Pangolin | Traces found in Libwe sector, reports by Ba'aka from deep in the forest . |
| Order Hyracoidea | |
| Western Tree Hyrax Dendrohyrax dorsalis | Heard every night, seldom seen. |
| Order Proboscidea | |
| Forest Elephant Loxodonta cyclotis | Regular signs around Sangha Lodge, often a hazard when walking… Best place to see these in good numbers is Dzanga bai. |
| Order Artiodactyla | |
| Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius | Only 2 seen near the old logging company where there is sufficient grass for them to survive. |
| Red River Hog Potamochoerus porcus | Signs are common around Sangha Lodge but seen only from time to time at Dzanga bai |
| Western Giant Hog Hylochoerus meinertzhageni | Signs are common around Sangha Lodge but seen only from time to time at Dzanga bai, but appears to be more regular there than Red River hog. |
| Water Chevrotain Hyemoschus aquaticus | Seen only at Bai Hoku, and once near Sangha Lodge. |
| Forest Buffalo Syncerus [caffer]nanus | Seen regularly at Dzanga bai and on the bai walks at Bai Hoku |
| Bongo Tragelaphus euryceros (Boocercus euryceros) | Signs found often but only ever seen at Dzanga bai where up to 100 animals at a time are seen. |
| Sitatunga Tragelaphus spekei | Small numbers are generally present on the bai walks at bai Hoku |
| Blue Duiker Cephalophus monticola | Common in all forest where there is no hunting pressure. The commonest animal caught by the Baáka during net hunts. |
| Peters Duiker Cephalophus callipygus | Less common but also caught by the Baáka during hunts |
| Bay Duiker Cephalophus dorsalis | Less common but also caught by the Baáka during hunts |
| Yellow-backed Duiker Cephalophus silvicultor | Rare throughout the zone, one in Camera trap near SL |
| Black-fronted duiker (C. nigrifrons) | Black-fronted duiker (C. nigrifrons). Widespread in areas with low hunting pressure. One seen in early evening at Swamp Forest Trail at SL. Subspecies nigrifrons |
| Lesser Congo shrew (Congosorex verheyeni) | Hb5.5-9.5 t2-4, dark-brown, black tail completely naked. A recently described semi-fossorial species endemic to NW Congo Basin; common in DNNP. One seen feeding at a termite swarm along Northern Trail at SL. |
| Lesser large-headed shrew (Paracrocidura schoutedeni) | Hb6.5-9.6 t3.3-3.8, dark, black-tailed, big-headed. One of the most common shrews in the area’s forests. One trapped at NSS; one possibly seen on Loop Trail at SL but identification is uncertain |
| Remy’s pygmy shrew (Suncus remyi) | Hb3.5-4.5 t1-2, light reddish-brown. Probably the smallest mammal in Africa, endemic to NW Congo Basin. Generally considered rare, but apparently common at SL (RC once found one in a freshly dug garbage pit). I got one in a Sherman trap near River Trail, but the trap didn’t snap and I shook the contents out without checking them, so instead of having this shrew in hand I only saw it running away |
| Dent’s shrew (C. denti) | Hb6-7 t4-5, dark-brown, slaty belly, bristles on basal 2/3 of tail, short nose. Common forest species of Equatorial Africa. One seen escaping a driver ant swarm near Masesi’s Trail at SL. |
| Ludia shrew (C. ludia) | Hb5.5-6.5 t6-6.5, red-brown, narrow head. Rare, little-known endemic of N Congo Basin. One trapped in a pitfall trap on River Trail at SL. |
| Kongana shrew (S. konganensis) | Hb6-7 t3-4, dark-grey, truncated ears. Recently described species with highly localized distribution. One seen moving through a vine tangle about 25 cm above ground in “Zenkerella Thicket” on Loop Trail at SL. |
| Johnston’s forest shrew (S. johnstoni) | Hb4.4-5.6 t2.4-2.8, slaty-grey, light-grey belly, oval ears. The most common Sylvisorex of western Central Africa, but never caught at NSS. One seen escaping a driver ant swarm near Loop Trail at SL. |
| Congo golden mole (Huetia leucorhina). | Congo golden mole (Huetia leucorhina). |
| Giant otter shrew (Potamogale velox) | Widespread in the area. One seen swimming in Babongo River at SL (ask TC for the exact location); floats very low in the water and looks like a moving bunch of whiskers at a distance |