Animals meet in forest clearings

Tropical rainforests are known for having thick layers of tree cover, called canopies, that are dense enough to block sunlight. The rainforests in the Republic of the Congo, in Africa, also feature many treeless clearings where animals of different species gather together. “Animals are extremely attracted to these giant clearings in the middle of the forest, including many endangered animals like the Western lowland gorilla and the African forest elephant,” said Evan Hockridge of Harvard University in Massachusetts. Hockridge recently led a study on these clearings, which the Indigenous (first to inhabit a place) Ba’aka people call bais. Hockridge came across a bai while doing research in Congo’s Odzala-Kokoua National Park in 2021. He and a team of researchers then spent years gathering data on them, using drone footage and…

You're reading a preview of

The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 240

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.