SALONGA NATIONAL PARK

largest reserve in Congo (Kinshasa), Africa, covering 13,900 square miles (36,000 square km) and located midway between Kinshasa, the national capital, and Kisangani, 720 miles (1,160 km) to the northeast. The administrative headquarters at Monkoto (quateur province), on the Luilaka River southeast of Mbandaka, is accessible only by boat from the Congo River. The park was established in 1970 and has two separate sections, one north and one south of Monkoto; dense equatorial forest provides habitats for parrots, elephants, antelope, and a variety of monkeys and apesincluding pygmy chimpanzees, unique to this part of the world. Park visitors observe the animals from motorized river boats, and hunting is prohibited.