Congo jungle: characteristics, flora and fauna

These are the main characteristics of the Congo jungle:

• The Congo jungle with 180 million hectares extends throughout the Central Africa Region, it includes the countries of the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabón, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the south of the Central African Republic and the southeast of Cameroon.
• The climate of the Congo jungle is tropical, which is why when we talk about it, it is classified as a tropical jungle. It is a humid climate, with an average temperature of 30 ºC and 21 ºC of minimum. Its annual rainfall are very abundant with an average of 1800 mm.
• Due to the large amount of rain that falls in the area, the ground is characterized by being muddy.
• The state of conservation of the Congo jungle is vulnerable due to construction, poaching and deforestation. That is why, according to the global list 200 published by WWF, it appears as priority conservation ecoregion.
• This jungle is of great importance since it provides a lot of goods and services, has great value for the economy worldwide, since it acts as a large food, wood or mineral warehouse, in addition to contributing to the regulation of the climate.
• There are small populations inhabiting the Congo jungle, being located mainly in the main rivers. One of the native populations of this African jungle is that of pigmety.
• It has a very rich and diverse flora, its fauna is also very abundant and varied presenting important populations that are cataloged in danger of extinction.

Among the Congo jungle plants You can find the following:

Palma Cocotera or Nucifera coconuts

This species of palm trees belongs to the Aracaceae family and can be inhabited by the banks of the tropical beaches. They are plants that can measure up to 5 meters long, and contain the coconut as fruit.

Bananas or MUse paradisiac

From the Musaceae family, they can grow in poor soils but fertile and humid soils are ideal for the development of this species. We are not really facing a tree, we are facing a megaforbia, which is nothing other than a large perennial herb. The bananas has large leaves and a false trunk, as long as the fruit is a false epigine berry with about 5 cm in diameter and can reach up to 30 cm long.

Oil palm or Elaeis guineensis

Species of the Arecaceae family, is distributed by central and eastern Africa, by the Gulf of Guinea and the storm forests of Guinea. This palm can reach up to 40 m high and has fleshy fruits, which meet in clusters that weigh between 3-15 kg.

They are also characteristic of the Congo jungle the noble wood trees, including a wide variety of species such as The mahogany tree, cedar or teak. In addition, in flooded areas dominate the raffia palm trees and in areas that are only seasonally flooded, genres predominate Manilkara and Garcinia.

Within the great variety we find among the Congo jungle animals are:

Jungle elephant or Loxodonta cyclotis

This animal is from the Elephantidae family and is a kind of small elephant, since it does not exceed 2.5 m high and in its front legs it has 5 nails and in the rear 4. its pink ivory fangs make this animal threatened by poaching, currently being currently according to the red list in vulnerable state.

Okapi or Okapia Johnstoni

It is a mammal of the Giraffidae family, a relative of the giraffe, in fact they have some physical similarities, although the skin of the okapis is reddish, its legs are small and white with black stripes and have a short neck. These animals are strongly threatened, since their natural habitat is being destroyed, in addition to being persecuted by poachers. They are elusive animals, so their study is not easy and is mostly based on the collection of their excrements and other signs that manifest their presence. Know more about them in this other ecology article about the characteristics of the okapi, an animal in danger of extinction.

In the Congo jungle there are also important populations of coast and mountain gorillasbeing in danger of extinction. There is also a wide variety of reptiles with species such as The crocodiles, the mambas and the pythons. In addition, insects like mosquitoes, termites or ants.

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