Gabon Wildlife Adventure – July 2022 – Royle Safaris Trip Report

“Gabon is a hugely important country for conservation. With a small human population and vast areas of forest, it protects some of the largest remaining areas of intact Congolese forest in Central Africa. These forests harbour the largest population of Forest elephants in Africa, as well as important numbers of many other mega mammal species including Western lowland gorilla, Chimpanzee, Bongo and Mandrills.

Tourism in Gabon is in its infancy; most of the National Park network was only created in the past 15 years, and travel in the hinterland of the country has a ‘pioneer’ feel to it. As a result, any visitors are likely to have the Parks all to themselves.

This was one of three Royle Safaris trips to Gabon in July and August of 2022. This trip incorporated three different segments (Ivindo, Lope and Loango), although the Ivindo section was an add-on.

In the end a run-in with COVID-19 ensured that only two people completed all three segments and three people were only able to visit one location. Despite this we still managed to create a combined species list of 30 species, with a further 3 either heard or recorded through tracks. Thanks to the birding skills of Marcel Holyoak, we also recorded a trip list of over 130 bird species, one of which, the Sandy Scops owl, has only been seen by a handful of birders ever. Certainly a country to revisit!”

-Dr. Charles Foley (tour leader for this group)

As mention above the first of our three post pandemic wildlife tours to Gabon was led by the esteemed mammalwatcher, co-founder of the mammalwacthing podcast and distinguished field biologist Dr. Charles Foley. Also as mentioned above this tour was impacted by covid-19. An outbreak among the group curtailed the trip somewhat for some people. But subsequent trips didn’t have as many issues and in fact the rules and regulations regarding testing, isolation etc have changed already and for our 2023 group tours we don’t imagine there will be any mention of never mind impact from covid-19. Below is a summary of the trip and a species list.

Gabon is a jewel of a country when it comes to intact, pristine forest in Africa (over 80% of Gabon is forested) and with a lack of tourism industry the country is wild and you can end up having thousands of square kilometres of pristine forest and abundant wildlife to yourself. There is probably nowhere else in Africa quite like this amazing country.

A country that has long been rich in oil and has seen no need to exploit its forests, a country that has endless forests, large savannas and huge rivers that crisscross the evergreen landscape. It is also a country with a chequered past when it comes to tourism. For a long time the country was open to tourism (mostly birding), but in the early 2000’s the government cut back on tourism and the country fell away from the tourist circuit and into obscurity. But around 2015 the country started to open itself up again to tourism and particularly wildlife tourism. That was then put to a swift end (like all tourism around the world) with the covid-19 pandemic, but after 2 years of being closed and 3 years from our first trip to Gabon, Royle Safaris was back and the wildlife viewing was just as spectacular as ever.

The most remarkable facet of Gabon being off the wildlife tourism radar for so long is that it is a country that offers sightings (and many reliable) of some of the most incredible, elusive, enigmatic and endangered mammals in the world. From the strikingly coloured mandrills, to large populations of African forest elephants, the beautiful red river hogs and handsome western lowland gorillas to the impossibly large giant pangolin and West African manatee. Gabon delivers on a level that few countries can. Of course seeing all of those species on one trip would be exceptional and we were not that lucky. However some of those and many more are near guarantees in Gabon. Thanks largely to the concerted effort of the government to keep their parks and forests as natural and pristine as possible and the great work of people like David Lehmann who is researching the mandrills and also establishing eco-tourism activities for red river hogs and giant pangolins. In the next few years it will most likely that seeing a giant pangolin is as reliable as the habituated gorillas of Uganda or Rwanda. There is more time and work need for this but it is getting better and now for the first time there is a real plan in place to take tourists to se this amazing species, but of course the pangolin has to cooperate as walking in the forest at night around elephants is too dangerous if the pangolin is too far away.

So this tour was broken up into the main trip (which we ran back in 2019) and focused on two of the country’s best national parks, Lope & Loango. We also made a quick visit to Akanda National Park in search of northern talapoins and manatees. Our main focus was two primates, the mandrills and western lowland gorillas. But we hoped for a wealth of other wildlife and we were not disappointed. And then there was an optional pre-tour extension which nearly everyone took up to visit the very wild and rugged Ivindo National Park and experience the abundant wildlife (mostly the same species which we would see in other parks) but from large raised platforms overlooking openings called Bais which give an incredible and peaceful view into the lives of these usually secretive forest species. From Ivindo the group would meet up with the others and our Royle Safaris tour leader Charles in Lope and everyone would continue on from day 2 of the main trip and day 6 of the Ivindo clients together.

Gabon has so much to offer and is a veritable treasure trove of exotic and incredible mammal species that Royle Safaris will be running at least 2 trips annually for some time to come. We also have a new itinerary underdevelopment which would be a dedicated giant pangolin tracking trip, it would most likely consist of 15-18 days, which will be dedicated hiking in the forest looking for this amazing species as the purpose would be capture and collaring of the pangolins for the ongoing research into this species. Only very fit and adventurous people would be able to do this as hiking 25-30km in a day in extreme heat and humidity through dense forest, surrounded by elephants would be needed. However this is an opportunity that is available. Otherwise we offer the giant pangolin tracking activity as described in the body of the trip report below, as standard on our group tours.

For anyone wishing to know more about future trips to Gabon please contact us at info@royle-safaris.co.uk we have already filled 7 of the 8 places on our first 2023 group tour, but have second and third group tour dates already secured.

All of the pictures below are from Marcel Holyoak, James Shiffer and John van Niel with their permissions.

Species List Gabon Wildlife Adventure & Ivindo Extension – July 2022

	Common Name	Binominal Name	Key: Akanda National Park (AKD) Lope National Park (LOP) / Ivindo National Park (IVD) / Bifoun (BIF) / Loango National Park (LOA) / Lamberene River (LAM)

			AKD	LOP	IVD	BIF	LOA	LAM
1	Beecroft’s Flying Squirrel	Anomalurus beecrofti		*
2	African Golden Cat	Caracal aurata		ǂ
3	Red-capped mangabey	Cercocebus torquatus					*
4	Moustached Monkey	Cercopithecus cephus		*			*
5	Putty-nosed Monkey	Cercopithecus nictitans		*	*
6	Crowned Monkey	Cercopithecus pogonias		*
7	Black Colobus	Colobus satanas		*				*
8	Cyclops Roundleaf Bat	Doryrhina cyclops		*
9	African Straw-coloured Fruit-bat	Eidolon helvum	*
10	Western Palm Squirrel	Epixerus ebii						* (possible)
11	Peter’s Dwarf Epauletted Fruit Bat	Epomophorus pusillus		*
12	Wahlberg’s Epauletted Fruit Bat	Epomophorus wahlbergi		*
13	Franquet’s fruit bat	Epomops franqueti		*
14	Servaline genet	Genetta servalina		*
15	Western lowland gorilla	Gorilla gorilla			*		*
16	Silent Dormouse	Graphiurus surdus		*
17	Red-legged Sun Squirrel	Heliosciurus rufobrachium		*				*
18	Slender Mongoose	Herpestes sanguineus				*
19	Common Hippopotamus	Hippopotamus amphibius					*	*
20	Spotted-necked Otter	Hydrictis maculicollis						*
21	Grey-cheeked Mangabey	Lophocebus albigena		*				*
22	African Forest Elephant	Loxodonta cyclotis		*	*		*
23	Mandrill	Mandrillus sphinx		*
24	Northern Talapoin Monkey	Miopithecus ogouensis	*					*
25	Leopard	Panthera pardus		ǂ
26	Green Bush Squirrel	Paraxerus poensis		*				*
27	Blue Duiker	Philantomba monticola		*
28	Red river hog	Potamochoerus porcus			*		*
29	Egyptian Fruit	Rousettus aegyptiacus						*
30	Gabon Bushbaby	Sciurocheirus gabonensis		ǂ
31	African Buffalo	Syncerus caffer nanus		*	*
32	Bushbuck	Tragelaphus scriptus		*
33	Sitatunga	Tragelaphus spekii			*

Note: Some bats identified 100% at roosts or with good views. Others identified with spectrograms in combination with sightings (no spectrograms without visual confirmation are recorded as a sighting), behaviour and habitat – so not 100% but best educated guesses. For more information please email me.

ǂ – Animals where signs were seen but not the animal

* Please note that the mammal list is not complete as the tour leader and mammal expert for the trip (Charles Foley) isolated in Lamberene due to covid and didn’t complete the trip.

Birds

	Common Name	Binominal Name	Key: Akanda National Park (AKD) Lope National Park (LOP) / Ivindo National Park (IVD) / Bifoun (BIF) / Loango National Park (LOA) / Lamberene River (LAM)

			AKD	LOP	IVD	BIF	LOA	LAM
1	Common Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos		*
2	African Jacana	Actophilornis africanus						*
3	Black Guineafowl	Agelastes niger		*
4	Reichenbach’s Sunbird	Anabathmis reichenbachii		*
5	African Darter	Anhinga rufa						*
6	Long-legged Pipit	Anthus pallidiventris		*
7	Yellow-breasted Apalis	Apalis flavida						*
8	Buff-throated Apalis	Apalis rufogularis		*
9	Little Swift	Apus affinis		*				*
10	Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle	Aquila africana						*
11	Great Egret	Ardea alba	*					*
12	Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea						*
13	Goliath Heron	Ardea goliath		*				*
14	Intermediate Egret	Ardea intermedia						*
15	Purple Heron	Ardea purpurea						*
16	Honeyguide Greenbul	Baeopogon indicator		*
17	Yellow-lored Bristlebill	Bleda notatus		*
18	Hadada Ibis	Bostrychia hagedash		*				*
19	Western Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis	*	*				*
20	Yellow-billed Oxpecker	Buphagus africanus		*
21	Water Thick-knee	Burhinus vermiculatus		*				*
22	Striated Heron	Butorides striata						*
23	Piping Hornbill	Bycanistes fistulator		*				*
24	Grey-backed Camaroptera	Camaroptera brevicaudata		*
25	Bates’s Nightjar	Caprimulgus batesi		*
26	Square-tailed Nightjar	Caprimulgus fossii		*
27	Swamp Nightjar	Caprimulgus natalensis		*
28	Fan-tailed Grassbird	Catriscus brevirostris		*
29	Lesser Striped Swallow	Cecropis abyssinica		*				*
30	Red-breasted Swallow	Cecropis semirufa		*
31	Blue-headed Coucal	Centropus monachus						ǂ
32	Senegal Coucal	Centropus senegalensis		*				*
33	Black-casqued Hornbill	Ceratogymna atrata		*
34	Pied Kingfisher	Ceryle rudis	*	*				*
35	Carmelite Sunbird	Chalcomitra fuliginosa						*
36	Diederik Cuckoo	Chrysococcyx caprius						*
37	Klaas’s Cuckoo	Chrysococcyx klaas		*				*
38	Woolly-necked Stork	Ciconia episcopus						*
39	Olive-bellied Sunbird	Cinnyris chloropygius						*
40	Copper Sunbird	Cinnyris cupreus		*
41	Tiny Sunbird	Cinnyris minullus		*
42	Superb Sunbird	Cinnyris superbus		*
43	Chattering Cisticola	Cisticola anonymus						*
44	Short-winged Cisticola	Cisticola brachypterus		*
45	Whistling Cisticola	Cisticola lateralis		*
46	Winding Cisticola	Cisticola marginatus		*
47	Pied Crow	Corvus albus						*
48	Great Blue Turaco	Corythaeola cristata						*
49	Red-chested Cuckoo	Cuculus solitarius						ǂ
50	Green-headed Sunbird	Cyanomitra verticalis						*
51	African Palm Swift	Cypsiurus parvus	*					*
52	Fork-tailed Drongo	Dicrurus adsimilis		*
53	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta						*
54	Common Waxbill	Estrilda astrild						*
55	Orange-cheeked Waxbill	Estrilda melpoda		*
56	Peregrine Falcon	Falco peregrinus		*
57	Grey Pratincole	Glareola cinerea						*
58	Rock Pratincole	Glareola nuchalis		*
59	Palm-nut Vulture	Gypohierax angolensis	*					*
60	White-backed Vulture	Gyps africanus		*
61	Blue-breasted Kingfisher	Halcyon malimbica	*
62	Woodland Kingfisher	Halcyon senegalensis		*				*
63	African Fish Eagle	Haliaeetus vocifer		*				*
64	Angolan Swallow	Hirundo angolensis		*
65	Red-chested Swallow	Hirundo lucida	*	*
66	White-bibbed Swallow	Hirundo nigrita						*
67	Wire-tailed Swallow	Hirundo smithii						*
68	Caspian Tern	Hydroprogne caspia						*
69	Brown Illadopsis	Illadopsis fulvescens		*
70	African Pygmy Kingfisher	Ispidina picta		*				*
71	Lizard Buzzard	Kaupifalco monogrammicus						*
72	Splendid Starling	Lamprotornis splendidus						*
73	Long-crested Eagle	Lophaetus occipitalis						*
74	African Pied Hornbill	Lophoceros fasciatus	*	*				*
75	Yellow-throated Longclaw	Macronyx croceus		*
76	Yellow Longbill	Macrosphenus flavicans		ǂ
77	Giant Kingfisher	Megaceryle maxima						*
78	White-throated Bee-eater	Merops albicollis		*
79	Rosy Bee-eater	Merops malimbicus			*			*
80	Blue-breasted Bee-eater	Merops variegatus		*
81	Reed Cormorant	Microcarbo africanus						*
82	African Pied Wagtail	Motacilla aguimp		*				*
83	Olivaceous Flycatcher	Muscicapa olivascens		*
84	Grey-headed Nigrita	Nigrita canicapillus						*
85	Black-crowned Night Heron	Nycticorax nycticorax	*
86	Sandy Scops Owl	Otus icterorhynchus		*
87	Osprey	Pandion haliaetus				*
88	Brown-eared Woodpecker	Pardipicus caroli		*
89	Northern Grey-headed Sparrow	Passer griseus	*	*				*
90	Pink-backed Pelican	Pelecanus rufescens	*
91	Latham’s Francolin	Peliperdix lathami		*
92	Forest Swallow	Petrochelidon fuliginosa		*
93	Brown-throated Wattle-eye	Platysteira cyanea		*
94	Village Weaver	Ploceus cucullatus	*	*				*
95	Vieillot’s Black Weaver	Ploceus nigerrimus		*				*
96	Black-necked Weaver	Ploceus nigricollis		*
97	Spectacled Weaver	Ploceus ocularis						*
98	Preuss’s Weaver	Ploceus preussi		*
99	African finfoot	Podica senegalensis			*
100	Speckled Tinkerbird	Pogoniulus scolopaceus						ǂ
101	African Harrier-Hawk	Polyboroides typus		*
102	Tawny-flanked Prinia	Prinia subflava		*
103	Square-tailed Saw-wing	Psalidoprocne nitens		*
104	Black Saw-wing	Psalidoprocne pristoptera		*
105	Grey-rumped Swallow	Pseudhirundo griseopyga						*
106	Grey Parrot	Psittacus erithacus		*				*
107	Hartlaub’s Duck	Pteronetta hartlaubii						*
108	Common Bulbul	Pycnonotus barbatus		*				*
109	Black-bellied Seedcracker	Pyrenestes ostrinus						*
110	African Skimmer	Rynchops flavirostris		*				*
111	Hamerkop	Scopus umbretta	*	*				*
112	Black-and-white Mannikin	Spermestes bicolor						*
113	Bronze Mannikin	Spermestes cucullata		*				*
114	Magpie Mannikin	Spermestes fringilloides						*
115	Common Tern	Sterna hirundo						*
116	Little Tern	Sternula albifrons						*
117	Red-eyed Dove	Streptopelia semitorquata		*				*
118	African Paradise Flycatcher	Terpsiphone viridis		*				*
119	West African Crested Tern	Thalasseus albididorsalis	*					*
120	Swamp Palm Bulbul	Thescelocichla leucopleura		*				*
121	Yellow-billed Barbet	Trachyphonus purpuratus		ǂ
122	African Green Pigeon	Treron calvus	*	*				*
123	African Thrush	Turdus pelios		*				*
124	Black-rumped Buttonquail	Turnix nanus		*
125	Blue-spotted Wood Dove	Turtur afer		*				*
126	Blue-headed Wood Dove	Turtur brehmeri		*
127	Emerald-spotted Wood Dove	Turtur chalcospilos		*
128	Long-tailed Hawk	Urotriorchis macrourus		*
129	White-crowned Lapwing	Vanellus albiceps						*
130	Senegal Lapwing	Vanellus lugubris		*
131	African Wattled Lapwing	Vanellus senegallus		*
132	Pin-tailed Whydah	Vidua macroura		*

* Please note that the bird list is not complete as the Marcel Holyoak who was compiling the list isolated in Lamberene due to covid and didn’t complete the trip.

Reptiles

	Common Name	Binominal Name	Key: Akanda National Park (AKD) Lope National Park (LOP) / Ivindo National Park (IVD) / Bifoun (BIF) / Loango National Park (LOA) / Lamberene River (LAM)

			AKD	LOP	IVD	BIF	LOA	LAM
1	Central African Slender-snouted Crocodile	Mecistops cataphractus					*	*