Discover Gabon: Top 7 Amazing and Unique Fun Facts You Never Knew!

1. Party Animals in Loango National Park

Move over, Jurassic Park – Gabon’s got the ultimate party animals with an eco-friendly twist: Loango National Park, established to protect endangered wildlife and forests, boasts an array of creatures from forest elephants to western lowland gorillas, and even beach-loving leopards leaving their prints in the sand. While boosting Gabon's economy through eco-tourism hasn't been a walk on the beach due to various challenges, the hope is high for new government efforts and negotiations to create more national park lodges.
Source => bbc.com

2. Gabon: The Superhero of African Conservation

Move over, Captain Planet: Gabon is here to save the day! With a conservation cape as diverse as the biodiversity it protects, Gabon is the superhero of African conservation: Boasting 13 national parks, 2 World Heritage sites, and 20 marine protected areas, this unassuming nation punches well above its weight in protecting Mother Earth. Committed to shielding a whopping 30% of its terrestrial and aquatic habitats by 2030, Gabon's forests are a carbon sequestration powerhouse, capturing more CO2 each year than what's belched out by 30 million cars and putting them to shame!
Source => nature.org

Did you know the Central African rock python from Congo is one of the top eight snake species in the world? Discover how this 20-feet long nonvenomous serpent faces more danger than it poses! 🐍💤

=> Fun Facts about Congo

3. Fashionable Wildlife of Gabon

In the wilds of Gabon, even the birds and beasts wear designer labels: Gabon is home to couture-clad creatures like the Forest sub-species of African Elephant and African Buffalo, the stylish Side-striped Jackal, the sophisticated Black Colobus, Moustached and Putty-nosed Monkeys, and the fashion-forward Bare-cheeked Trogon, Congo Serpent Eagle, Chocolate-backed and African Dwarf Kingfishers, and both Vermiculated and Pel’s Fishing Owls – making it a must-visit hotspot for birdwatchers and mammal lovers alike.
Source => rockjumperbirding.com

4. Gabon's Real Estate for Flora and Fauna

If you thought Monopoly had an impressive number of properties, wait till you explore Gabon's real estate scene: this African nation is home to over 11,000 plant species, including a jaw-dropping 400 types of orchids and a fungi frenzy with 8,000 varieties, and don't get us started on the celebrity forest elephants, gorillas, and chimpanzees strutting their stuff in Gabon's lush rainforests.
Source => 101lasttribes.com

5. Soccer Sensation and Philanthropist: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Who needs superhero movies when you've got Gabon's very own fashion-forward philanthropist soccer sensation, swooping in to steal hearts and score goals with equal flair?: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a talented footballer and cultural icon, is not only a brand ambassador for Puma, but he's also designed his own range of football boots and founded the Aubameyang Foundation to support education and healthcare in Africa, earning him the titles of Gabon's Person of the Year and Knight of the National Order of Merit.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Fang-Betsi Sculptural Romance

When Fang met Betsi, a monumental romance for the ages was sculpted, and palm oil played Cupid: Gabon's Great Bieri, a majestic 19th-century Sculptural Bust from a Reliquary Ensemble, stands proudly as a testament to the union of Fang-Betsi artistry, melding wood, metal, and palm oil into a beautiful centerpiece for an ancestral altar that held relics from nine generations.
Source => metmuseum.org

7. Gabon's Dumbo: The Forest Elephant Sanctuary

In the midst of the Gabonese jungle, you'll find a natural spin-off of the classic film "Dumbo," boasting a cast of 95,000 forest elephants in need of no CGI enhancements: As it turns out, Gabon has become a vital sanctuary for the critically endangered forest elephant species, recently revealed through DNA analysis of their not-so-glamorous dung samples, dubbing it their "last stronghold."
Source => apnews.com