Summary: In March 2025, I saw eight reptile species in the Dzanga National Park and Doli Lodge area. This included what appears to be the first record in the Central African Republic of Gonwouo’s Mabuya (Trachylepis gonwouoi).
The only snakes seen were Western Forest Centipede-Eater (Aparallactus modestus) and Blue-tailed Nocturnal Tree Snake (Dipsadoboa duchesnii), both were seen near Doli Lodge.
Paul Carter: paulcarter@pacapix.com.
Posted: 5 July 2025.
Abbreviations: iNat – iNaturalist.
24-hour time is written as “hhmm” e.g. “3:49 PM” is written as “1549” or “1549h”.
Contents
a) Reptile list
b) Reptile images and notes
c) Site information
d) References
A. Reptile List
I photographed all of the species listed below, apart from the Nile Monitor.
Species below marked as ** were seen by PC only (when travelling with Ian Thompson).
Snakes:
1. Western Forest Centipede-Eater (Aparallactus modestus). Doli Lodge.**
2. Blue-tailed Nocturnal Tree Snake (Dipsadoboa duchesnii). Doli Lodge.**
Geckos:
3. Nkoelon Half-toed Gecko (Hemidactylus coalescens). Doli Lodge.
4. Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia). Doli Lodge.
Lizards:
5. Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus). Along the road to Bai Hokou.**
6. Rainbow Agama (Agama agama). Doli Lodge.
Skinks:
7. Speckle-lipped Mabuya (Trachylepis maculilabris). Doli Lodge.
8. Gonwouo’s Mabuya (Trachylepis gonwouoi). Dzanga Bai trail.**
B. Reptile Images and Notes
#1) Western Forest Centipede-Eater (Aparallactus modestus). Doli Lodge. 12 March; iNat post.
#2) Blue-tailed Nocturnal Tree Snake (Dipsadoboa duchesnii). Doli Lodge. 11 March; iNat post.
#3) Nkoelon Half-toed Gecko (Hemidactylus coalescens). Doli Lodge. Common.
14 March; iNat post.
13 March; an unusual, very dark form photographed inside a tree hollow; iNat post.
#7) Speckle-lipped Mabuya (Trachylepis maculilabris). Doli Lodge. 11 March; iNat post.
#8) Gonwouo’s Mabuya (Trachylepis gonwouoi). Dzanga Bai trail. 19 March 1444h; iNat post. I initially posted it on iNaturalist as Tropical Mabuya (Trachylepis polytropis) but iNat commentary (Kieran Richardson) alerted me to the possibility of it being T. gonwouoi. After email discussions with Peter Uetz and Aaron Bauer, and reviewing Allen et al (1917), it appears that this is the first published record of T. gonwouoi in the CAR. Keel counts on dorsal scales and the venter colour fit Trachylepis gonwouoi and not Trachylepis polytropis. Most dorsal scales seem to have 3 keels (which fits T. gonwouoi, reported as having 3-5 scales); some scales above the tympanum have 4 or 5 keels; some red-brown scales above the white stripe seem to have 4-5 scales; some scale near base of tail have 4 scales. Allen et al (2017) note that T. polytropis has 5-10 dorsal scale keels. The keel counts rule out T. polytropis. The nearest known population of Trachylepis gonwouoi is about 200 km ESE of Bayanga where it is reported from the Lac Tele Community Reserve in the Republic of Congo (Gonwouo et al, 2021).
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C. Site Information
Doli Lodge is located 200 meters north of Bayanga Village in the extreme southwest of Central Africa Republic. They are within the “Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve”, a buffer zone around the various national parks. Dzanga Bai and Bai Hokou are within the “Dzanga Sector “of the “Dzanga-Ndoki National Park” within the “Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area”.
More detailed information on the lodge and protected areas is summarised in my post covering mammal records at Doli Lodge.
Site Coordinates:
Doli Lodge: 2.920300°N 16.255560°E.
Dzanga Bai Camp: 2.942253°N 16.352154°E.
Dzanga Bai Tower: 2.954336°N 16.364109°E.
D. References
- Allen KE, Tapondjou WP, Welton LJ, Bauer AM (2017). A new species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from Central Africa and a key to the Trachylepis of West and Central Africa. Zootaxa 4268(2):255–269.
- Gonwouo NL, Zassi-Boulou A-G, LeBreton M (2021). Trachylepis gonwouoi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T124313321A124313324. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T124313321A124313324.en .
- Reptile Database: Website: https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/
- Uetz P, Freed P, Aguilar, R, Reyes F, Kudera J, Hošek J (eds.) (2025). The Reptile Database, http://www.reptile-database.org , accessed June 2025.
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