The biomonitoring team report on monitoring park clearings for the July-September quarter, shows encouraging signs in a bai of the North block of the park.

After the recent biological inventories carried out in the park, five clearings or baïs were chosen for the monitoring of target species using camera traps. The cameras are permanently placed in those spots and their images retrieved after 2 to 3 months. A total of 3292 images and 46 videos of elephants as well as 34 images and 23 videos of bongo have been recorded during these last three months.

The bais are clearings frequented by numerous species of fauna where they get their supplies of mineral salts and where elephants take mud baths. Elephants play an important role in maintaining the baïs.

The images collected revealed that in a bai in the northern block of the park, elephants visit the place during daytime, morning and  afternoon alike, while in other bais, they go at night only around 8 to 10 PM.

The diurnal use of this bai by elephants is a sign that they feel safe because of lesser poaching activity. This reduction in threats results from the work done with the population by the Park management and its partners and the intensification of patrol efforts.

Eventually the increase in the presence of elephants may lead to the development of tourism in the area.