Biodiversity
The Lac Télé Community Reserve is home to a high diversity of animals, including fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds.
In the first systematic surveys of the Likouala region, high gorilla densities were recorded in the swamps, and subsequent surveys have reported amongst the highest gorilla densities recorded for the Republic of Congo.
48 large mammal species, including 14 threatened species are known from the Lac Télé Community Reserve; the bats and other small mammals remain to be studied. LTCR is also the only Ramsar site in Congo, chosen for its diversity and abundance of waterbirds. In total over 360 bird species are known from the reserve. A study of the fish species of LTCR is ongoing and it is possible that a number of endemic undescribed species may be found here.
Finally, Lac Télé Community Reserve supports all three crocodiles known from Central Africa including the slender-snouted Crocodylus cataphractus and dwarf crocodile Osteolaemus tetraspis, which may be amongst the most threatened crocodiles in the world. Local people also claim that a fourth species is found in the south of the reserve. The reserve north of the Likouala-aux-Herbes river is characterized by a vast area of swamp forest with seasonally flooded grassland savanna along the rivers. The southern part of the reserve contains predominantly savanna and seasonally flooded forest. An ‘island’ of terra firma lies at the heart of the reserve and is a key area for gorillas.