The secret life of the Congo rainforest – in pictures

Using high-definition camera traps on trails in Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki national park, Will Burrard-Lucas, a photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society, has captured Africa’s most elusive and rarely seen animals

An African golden cat (Caracal aurata) – the only forest-dependent cat on the continent and one of the least known – is classed as vulnerable by the IUCN. ‘Wherever you go, you get the sense that wildlife lurks just out of sight, behind the veil of vegetation,’ Burrard-Lucas says. ‘You never know what will pass along these narrow forest paths and many species are rarely seen’

An African forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), the smallest subspecies of the African buffalo and classed as near threatened by conservationists, pauses at a watering hole

An African palm civet (Nandinia binotata), which lives largely in the forest canopy. Seraphin Ngouna, who belongs to an Indigenous people from the forest and maintained the cameras for a WCS research centre in the park, says: ‘These photos are amazing. I am really happy that thanks to these cameras we are able to take pictures of the animals that are very difficult to spot’

An African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus) moves through the undergrowth. Though it is widely sold as bushmeat, the species is classified as of least concern by the IUCN

A blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) is captured running past a camera. One of the smallest antelopes in Africa, it is only about 30cm tall at the shoulder

A black-footed mongoose (Bdeogale nigripes). Although they look similar to civets, these carnivores are from a different family

A leopard (Panthera pardus) on the prowl. ‘For me, the ultimate thrill is to photograph predators, and my dream was to get a shot of the apex predator in Nouabalé-Ndoki: a leopard,’ Burrard-Lucas says. ‘These cats are very secretive and almost impossible to see in the thick rainforest. To select spots for my cameras, I was relying on the knowledge and experience of researchers and trackers who had been studying the wildlife of the park for years. It was an incredible moment when I returned to one camera and found a photo of the most impressive male leopard I have ever seen’

A water chevrotain (Hyemoschus aquaticus), also known as a fanged deer. When threatened, these largely nocturnal animals retreat to water, where they can remain hidden almost completely submerged below the surface. ‘Tropical rainforests don’t give up their secrets easily,’ says Emma Stokes, who oversees WCS’s operations in Nouabalé-Ndoki. ‘You can spend years walking through these forests without seeing much of the extraordinary wildlife that lives there. You only know it’s there by the signs it leaves behind’

As the diet of forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) is dominated by fruit, they play a crucial role in dispersing many tree species. Their main threat is poaching for the Asian ivory market

Giant pangolins (Smutsia gigantea) are endangered because of deforestation and being hunted for bushmeat. But the solitary animals are also the world’s most-trafficked species because of a mistaken belief in China that their scales have medicinal qualities

A red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), a species of bushpig living near swamps and rivers from Senegal to the easternmost point of Democratic Republic of the Congo

A yellow-backed duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor). They are the largest of the duikers, whose name comes from the Afrikaans word for ‘diver’, as they dash into underbrush for cover when threatened

Cover photo:  Critically endangered African forest elephants, which are smaller and reproduce more slowly than their savannah cousins. Photograph: W Burrard-Lucas/Wildlife Conservation Society