'Naive' Chimpanzee

Photo By: Michael Nichols, National Geographic

The Republic of Congo earlier this year formally expanded Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park to protect an increasingly rare treasure: one of Africa’s most pristine forests and a population of "naive" chimpanzees with so little exposure to humans that the curious apes investigate the conservationists who study them rather than run away. Known as the Goualougo Triangle, the 100-plus square-mile dense swamp forest and its unique great ape population was first reported in 1989 by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

> Related: More Pictures by Wildlife Conservation Society

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