CULTURE
Kahuzi-Biega National Park - UNESCO World Heritage site, home to rare Eastern lowland gorillas
Baku, September 17, AZERTAC
A vast area of primary tropical forest dominated by two spectacular extinct volcanoes, Kahuzi and Biega, the park has a diverse and abundant fauna.
One of the last groups of eastern lowland (graueri) gorillas (consisting of only some 250 individuals) lives at between 2,100 and 2,400 m above sea-level.
The park comprises of dense lowland rainforests, extending over 600,000 ha, as well as Afro-montane forests, with bamboo forests and some small areas of sub-alpine prairies and heather on Mounts Kahuzi (3,308 m) and Biega (2,790 m).
It is also one of the ecologically richest regions of Africa and worldwide.
Moreover, the area considered as an asylum of the most important world population of eastern lowland gorillas (or de Grauer), sub-species endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and listed under the endangered category on the IUCN Red Data Book.
Preserving the 136 species of mammals, the Kahuzi-Biega National Park was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980.