Gashaka Gumti: chimpanzees and the Kwano forest
Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti), mona, putty-nosed and tantalus monkeys, giant forest hog, forest elephant (rare); montane birds towards Chappal Waddi. Gashaka Gumti National Park, Taraba State, Nigeria.
Best time: 15 Dec – 15 Mar (December to March). Where: Kwano – Gashaka Primate Project research camp, Serti – park headquarters (Nigeria). Time of day: Chimpanzee pant-hoots from first light and in the last hour before dusk around the Kwano research area.
- Guide, ranger or boat needed
- Entry fee
- Binoculars helpful
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Dec – 15 Mar. Mid December to mid March: dry season, fordable rivers and the clearest mornings
Active from 15 Nov to 30 Apr (November to April) in a typical year.
Time of day
Chimpanzee pant-hoots from first light and in the last hour before dusk around the Kwano research area; the forest dawn from 40 minutes before sunrise
- Dawn chorus & pant-hoots: 40 min before sunrise → 09:00
- Evening calls: 1 h before sunset → last light
What will you hear?
Pant-hoot choruses and drumming from the Kwano forest — the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee's main study population — putty-nosed monkeys' pyow calls, hornbills over the Gamgam river and a night of tree hyrax and nightjars.
Binoculars?
Binoculars helpful. Chimps are heard, not approached; binoculars for putty-nosed monkeys and hornbills in the canopy.
Where to go
- Kwano – Gashaka Primate Project research camp — Long-term chimpanzee research site inside the park; visits by arrangement with the park and the project, on foot from Gashaka village. Map
- Serti – park headquarters — Entry, rangers and basic accommodation; Gashaka village is the trailhead. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Rangers are required inside the park (park rule). Cheapest legal way: bus to Serti, pay entry and the ranger fee at headquarters, walk in from Gashaka village with a porter and camp at Kwano by arrangement with the research project.
Cost: Park entry, ranger and porter fees; check current prices at Serti.
Free or no-guide alternative: Gashaka village and the river valley below Kwano are outside the ranger requirement: the forest dawn and monkeys are free from the village tracks, the chimpanzees are not.
Who runs access
- Nigeria National Park Service – Gashaka Gumti (park authority) — Park-run rangers and accommodation at Serti
Field-recording notes
The chimpanzees are a research population, not habituated for tourism: you may hear them, you should not expect to approach them, and the researchers' distance rules apply. Rangers accompany walks (park rule); porters from Gashaka village carry into Kwano. No power, no signal; rivers rise fast in the rains. Taraba State: check current travel advice carefully before planning.
Sources
Similar spectacles
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More: all spectacles in Nigeria · chimpanzees · mountain wildlife · Nigeria in January · Nigeria in February · Nigeria in March · Nigeria in December