Located on the outskirts of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, near the villages of Bomassa and Bon-Coin, Wali Bai is a small 1.2-hectare clearing visited by a remarkable diversity of wildlife. To better understand how animals use the site during the construction of a new viewing platform, the park’s Tourism and Research teams set up a camera-trap monitoring system.
In October 2025, 18 camera traps were installed around the bai. Their objective was to document changes in wildlife use of the site before, during and after construction, which took place from April to mid-July 2026. Seven cameras were positioned on the side of the clearing where the viewing platform was being built, while 11 were installed on the opposite side. The teams retrieved images and replaced memory cards and batteries approximately once a month.
Over the following months, the images revealed something beyond the initial question of the potential impact of the construction work: the remarkable diversity of wildlife visiting Wali Bai, both day and night.
Some sequences show buffaloes using the clearing while construction workers were still present on site. Despite the activity associated with the construction of the new viewing platform, the animals continued to appear in front of the cameras. These observations alone cannot determine the impact of the work on wildlife, but they illustrate that animals continued to use the site during this period.
Forest elephants, regular visitors to Wali Bai, were also captured repeatedly. Their presence contributes to making this small clearing an important site for wildlife observation. But the cameras also revealed much more elusive visitors.
As night fell, civets, African golden cats and leopards were photographed by the cameras. Other images captured bongos, Peter’s duikers, black-and-white colobus monkeys and water chevrotains, highlighting the diversity of species using the bai and its surroundings.
Daytime observations brought further surprises. A group of approximately ten gorillas was recorded near Wali Bai. These observations, captured by cameras rather than by visitors, show that wildlife activity continues at different times of day and night.
This diversity is particularly remarkable because Wali Bai lies outside the park’s boundaries, in an area where wildlife and human communities share the landscape. The communities of Bomassa and Bon-Coin, recognizing the clearing’s potential for tourism and wildlife observation, have chosen to protect its surroundings and refrain from hunting near the site.
The last camera traps were retrieved on September 4, 2026, after nearly a year of monitoring. Scientific analysis of the complete dataset will now allow researchers to compare wildlife use of the site before, during and after construction, and to better understand how animals use Wali Bai over time.
In the meantime, the images already tell a fascinating story. Behind the apparent tranquillity of this small clearing lies a thriving wildlife community, active day and night: elephants, buffaloes, gorillas, leopards, African golden cats, civets and many other species.