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The Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo encompasses a massive land area of 3,600,000 hectares. It comprises of two sectors which is approximately equal in size and are split up by nearly 45km stretch of land. The Salonga National Park in Zaire is situated at an altitude of 350m to 700m rising from west to east.
The Salonga National Park is located in a wide area of the central basin of the Zaïre River in the equatorial regions of Bandundu and Kasaï. The region can be accessed mainly by water transport. On 30th November 1970, it was declared a national park. It was included in the World Heritage List in the year 1984.
No systematic survey has been conducted to find out the various wildlife species that inhabit the region but this national park is a home to diverse species of animals. Dwarf Chimpanzee which is found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most important species that can be seen here. Some of the other attractions of the national park are colobus monkeys ., giant ground pangolin ,long-tailed pangolin, tree pangolin, leopard, elephant, hippopotamus, African golden cat, Angolan mongoose, Congo water civet, bush pig, water chevrotain, yellow-backed duiker, bushbuck, okapi, pygmy Cape buffalo and many more. Some of the species of birds found in the region are Zaïre 'peacock' , cattle egret , black stork , yellow-billed stork s etc.
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