The Niokolo-Koba National Park (french: Parc National du Niokolo Koba, PNNK) is a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
and natural protected area in south eastern
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠...
near the
Guinea border. It is served by
Niokolo-Koba Airport
Niokolo-Koba Airport is an airstrip serving the Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal.
See also
*Transport in Senegal
*
References
Great Circle Mapper - Niokolo-Koba* Google Earth
Airports in Senegal
{{Senegal-airport-stub ...
, an unpaved airstrip.
National Park
Established as a reserve in 1925, Niokolo-Koba was declared a Senegalese national park on 1 January 1954. Expanded in 1969, it was inscribed as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 1981 as a UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve. In 2007 it was added to the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
List of Endangered World Heritage sites.
Since 2005, the protected area is considered a
Lion Conservation Unit.
Geography
The park lies in an upland region through which the upper stretch of the
Gambia River
The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigabl ...
flows, towards the northwestern border of Guinea. The Biosphere park itself covers some 9,130 square kilometres, in a great arc running from Upper
Casamance
, settlement_type = Geographical region
, image_skyline = Senegal Casamance.png
, image_caption = Casamance in Senegal
, image_flag = Flag of Casamance.svg
, image_shield =
, motto ...
/
Kolda Region at the
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘ðž¤ðž¤²ðž¤« 𞤄ðž¤ðž¤§ðž¤¢ðž¥„𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...
border into the
Tambacounda Region
Tambacounda, formerly known as ''Sénégal Oriental'', is a region of Senegal. It used to be part of the Mali Empire before the borders were created to separate Mali from Senegal. Tambacounda is physically the largest of Senegal's 14 regions, but ...
to within a hundred kilometers of the Guinean border near the southeast corner of Senegal. Its altitude ranges from 16m to as high as 311m.
Flora
Most of the park is woodland savannah and semi-arid Soudanese forest, with large areas of wooded wetlands and seasonal wetlands. The park contains over 1500 species of plants and 78% of the
gallery forest
A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...
in Senegal.
Many trees and shrubs are covered by lush vegetation along the river stalks, and these vegetation changes according to the terrain and soil. In the valleys and plains, there are vast areas where
Vetiveria and herbaceous savannah grow. Overgrown grasslands typically consist of the ''
Paspalum arbiculare
''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family.
The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...
'' and the
Echinochloa
''Echinochloa'' is a very widespread genus of plants in the grass family and tribe Paniceae. Some of the species are known by the common names barnyard grass or cockspur grass.
Some of the species within this genus are millets that are grown ...
. Sudanian species grow in the dry forest. There are also areas where
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
lives.
In valleys and belt-shaped forests, the species reflects the climate of southern
Guinea, and the tropical woody
liana is very prosperous.
Semiaquatic
In biology, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below.
Semiaquatic animals
Semi aquatic animals include:
* Ve ...
species live on the riverside, and annual plants disappearing when the height of the water rises are often found on sandy floodplains. At the edge of the pond, dry forests and herbaceous savanna develop depending on the degree of humidity or
soil compaction. Sometimes thick bushes called ''
Mimosa pigra'' occupy the middle of the wetlands.
Fauna
The
national park is known for its
wildlife
Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...
. The government of Senegal estimates the park contains 20 species of
amphibians, 60 species of fish, 38 species of reptiles (of which four are tortoises). There are some 80
mammal species. These included (as of 2005) an estimated 11000
buffaloes, 6000
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
es, 400
western giant eland, 50
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s, 120
lions, 150
chimpanzees (It is inhabited by a banded forest in the park (Lower Rim) and Mount Assirik. (north-western limit line where chimps are distributed.)), 3000
waterbuck
The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...
(Kobus ellipsiprymnus), 2000
common duiker
The common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), also known as the grey or bush duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus ''Sylvicapra''. This species is found everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of Africa ...
(''Sylvicapra grimmia''), an unknown number of
red colobus
Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Piliocolobus''. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus ''Procolobus'', which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus monke ...
(''Colobus badius rufomitratus'') and a few rare
African leopard
The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of ...
s and
West African wild dogs (''Lycaon pictus manguensis''), although this canid was thought to be wiped out throughout the rest of the country.
[C. Michael Hogan. 2009]
Other mammals include
roan antelope,
Guinea baboon
The Guinea baboon (''Papio papio'') is a baboon from the Old World monkey family. Some (older) classifications list only two species in the genus '' Papio'', this one and the hamadryas baboon. In those classifications, all other ''Papio'' specie ...
,
green monkey
The green monkey (''Chlorocebus sabaeus''), also known as the sabaeus monkey, is an Old World monkey with golden-green fur and pale hands and feet. The tip of the tail is golden yellow as are the backs of the thighs and cheek whiskers. It does n ...
,
patas monkey
The common patas monkey (''Erythrocebus patas''), also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa.
Taxonomy
There is some confusion surrounding ...
,
warthog
''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...
.
Around 330 species of birds have been sighted in the park, notably the
Arabian bustard,
black crowned crane
The black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina'') is a part of the family Gruidae, along with its sister species, the grey crowned crane. It is topped with its characteristic bristle-feathered golden crown. It is usually found in the shallow we ...
,
Abyssinian ground hornbill
The Abyssinian ground hornbill or northern ground hornbill (''Bucorvus abyssinicus'') is an African bird, found north of the equator, and is one of two species of ground hornbill. It is the second largest species of African hornbill, only surpas ...
(''Bucorvus abyssinicus''),
martial eagle
The martial eagle (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa.Ferguson-Lees & Christie, ''Raptors of the World''. Houghton Mifflin Company (2001), . It is the only member of the genus ''Polemaetus''. A species of t ...
,
bateleur
The bateleur (; ''Terathopius ecaudatus'') is a medium-sized eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is often considered a relative of the snake eagles and, like them, it is classified within the subfamily Circaetinae.Kemp, A. C., G. M. Kirwan, ...
(''Terathopius ecaudatus''), and
white-faced duck (''Dendrocygna viduata'').
There are also reptiles such as three species of
crocodiles, four species of
tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...
s
See also
*
Dindefelo Falls
*
Tourism in Senegal
References
*C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. StrombergWorld Database on Protected Areas / UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), 2008.Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Protection de la nature, des Bassins de rétention et des Lacs artificiels: Parcs et réserves 13 October 2005.
External links
Niokolo-Koba National Park UNESCO Site
{{authority control
National parks of Senegal
World Heritage Sites in Senegal
Biosphere reserves of Senegal
Gambia River
Protected areas established in 1954