The Goualougo Triangle is a 100-square-mile (260 km2) region on the southern end of the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, located in the Republic of Congo, in Central Africa.
Populations of several endangered or threatened species are found here, including forest elephants, western lowland gorillas and a high density of common chimpanzees.
The discovery of a native chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) population - and, most importantly, of their unhabituated behavior - in the Goualougo Triangle region helped persuade the Congolese government, and the local logging company, to preserve the pristine habitat.
Initial surveys of the Goualougo Triangle, comprising a forest rich in mahogany and other valuable hardwoods, were conducted that same year by Michael Fay, a conservationist with the WCS.
In July 2001, representatives of the WCS, the Congolese government, and the logging company - which owned legal rights to the Goualougo Triangle - announced the area was to be annexed to the park, so its intact ecosystem and undisturbed wildlife habitats would be protected in perpetuity.