The Niokolo-Koba National Park (french: Parc National du Niokolo Koba, PNNK) is a World Heritage Site and natural protected area in south eastern Senegal near the

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

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 in 1981 as a UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve. In 2007 it was added to the UNESCO List of Endangered World Heritage sites. Since 2005, the protected area is considered a

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

Conservation Unit.

Geography

The park lies in an upland region through which the upper stretch of the Gambia River 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/

Kolda Region Kolda is a region of Senegal (regional capitals have the same name as their respective regions). The region is also referred to historically and popularly as Haute Casamance. It's one of the 14 regions of the country and is located in the South ...

at the Guinea-Bissau border into the

Tambacounda Region Tambacounda, formerly known as ''Sénégal Oriental'', is a region of Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal ...

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 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 ''Chrysopogon'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family. They are widespread across Eurasia, Africa, Australia, southeastern North America, and various islands. Species Source: Formerly included Source: Resea ...

and herbaceous savannah grow. Overgrown grasslands typically consist of the '' Paspalum arbiculare'' and the Echinochloa. Sudanian species grow in the dry forest. There are also areas where bamboo lives. In valleys and belt-shaped forests, the species reflects the climate of southern

, and the tropical woody

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

is very prosperous. Semiaquatic 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 In geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or other ...

. Sometimes thick bushes called ''

Mimosa pigra ''Mimosa pigra'', commonly known as the giant sensitive tree (''pigra'' = lazy, slow), is a species of plant of the genus ''Mimosa'', in the family Fabaceae. The genus ''Mimosa'' (Mimosaceae) contains 400–450 species, most of which are native ...

'' occupy the middle of the wetlands.

Fauna

The

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

is known for its wildlife. The government of Senegal estimates the park contains 20 species of

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s, 60 species of fish, 38 species of reptiles (of which four are tortoises). There are some 80

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

species. These included (as of 2005) an estimated 11000 buffaloes, 6000 hippopotamuses, 400 western giant eland, 50 elephants, 120

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s, 150

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s (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 (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), 2000 common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), an unknown number of red colobus (''Colobus badius rufomitratus'') and a few rare African leopards and

West African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' L ...

s (''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, green monkey,

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. Around 330 species of birds have been sighted in the park, notably the

Arabian bustard The Arabian bustard (''Ardeotis arabs'') is a species of bustard which is found across the Sahel region of Africa and south western Arabia. It is part of the large-bodied genus, ''Ardeotis'', and, though little known, appears to be a fairly typi ...

, black crowned crane, Abyssinian ground hornbill (''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 (''Terathopius ecaudatus''), and white-faced duck (''Dendrocygna viduata''). There are also reptiles such as three species of

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s, four species of tortoises

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