The Oban Hills are a range of hills in

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. They lie within the Oban Hills Division of the

Cross River National Park The Cross River National Park is a national park of Nigeria, located in Cross River State, Nigeria. There are two separate sections, Okwangwo (established 1991) and Oban (established 1988). The park has a total area of about 4,000 km2, most ...

Geography

The hills are rugged, rising from in the river valleys to over in the mountains. The soils are highly vulnerable to leaching and erosion where stripped of plant cover. The rainy season lasts from March to November, with annual rainfall of over 3,500 mm. The northern part is drained by the Cross River and its tributaries. The southern parts are drained by the

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and cre ...

, Kwa and Korup rivers.

Land use

The Oban hills, which take their name from the small town of Oban to the south, contain the largest area of unexploited lowland rain forest in Nigeria. It is possible that at one time the region was home to more people, perhaps being depopulated due to its proximity to the slave trading center of

, and that the forest may actually be fairly recent growth. A 1988 report said that the remaining patches of forest on mountainous slopes were being encroached upon for logging and farming. Primates such as

Preuss's guenon The Preuss's monkey (''Allochrocebus preussi''), also known as Preuss's guenon, is a diurnal primate that lives terrestrially in mountainous (up to 2500 m) forests of eastern Nigeria, western Cameroon and Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. It was form ...

were being hunted for meat. The Oban Hills Forest Reserve was made a part of the Cross River National Park in 1991.

References

Sources

* * * {{CrossRiverNG-geo-stub Mountain ranges of Nigeria World Heritage Sites in Nigeria