Salonga sits right in the middle of the DRC, surrounded on all sides by thick jungle. Because there are no roads through the park and the rivers are the only way in, Salonga has stayed almost untouched. Scientists who visit often find animals behaving as if humans have never bothered them before.
The park is the only protected home in the world where bonobos live naturally. Bonobos are our closest cousins in the animal kingdom (along with chimpanzees) and they are found nowhere else except the DRC. Salonga also shelters the African forest elephant, the Congo peafowl, and the forest buffalo.
The rainforest of Salonga works like a giant lung for our planet. Its trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, helping to keep the Earth's air clean. The forest also soaks up enormous amounts of rain and releases water slowly, helping rivers stay full even in dry seasons.
Birdsong fills every corner of Salonga from dawn to dusk. Over 400 species of bird live here, and many more pass through each year on long migration journeys. Spotting a Congo peafowl — a bird that was unknown to science until 1936 — is still considered a special treat.