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Nigeria

Africa

284

Documented species

3

Parks and reserves

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and brings together a range of environments running from the semi-arid Sahel of the far north, with a shrinking Lake Chad, to the rainforests of the southeast on the Cameroonian border, by way of the Guinean savannahs of the centre and the Jos plateau. The Niger delta contains the largest mangrove forest in Africa and one of the largest in the world, a maze of channels and flooded forest where manatees, dwarf crocodiles and the delta's white-nosed monkey live. In the southeast, Cross River National Park protects montane rainforest of exceptional biodiversity, and in the east the Gashaka-Gumti massif combines gallery forest, savannah and high-altitude grassland in the country's largest park. Yankari and Kainji keep Nigeria's last elephant and lion populations.

Nature in Nigeria

National animal: The eagle, present on the national coat of arms

Did you know?

The Cross River gorilla is the rarest of all gorillas: fewer than three hundred individuals remain, spread across a handful of groups in the steep mountains on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. They are so elusive and their terrain so rugged that almost everything known about them comes from camera traps and from counting the nests they build each night, because direct sightings are exceptional.

Biodiversity profile

Conservation

Oil spills in the Niger delta have degraded great expanses of mangrove and fisheries. Sclater's guenon, endemic to the southeast, survives largely thanks to communities that regard it as sacred and protect it in their forests.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Yankari in the dry season for elephants at the Wikki spring. Afi and Cross River for drills and forest primates. Gashaka-Gumti between November and April for chimpanzees and birds.

Parks and reserves

National Park

Cross River

The largest expanse of rainforest left in Nigeria, the last refuge of the Cross River gorilla.

See park
National Park

Gashaka Gumti

Nigeria's largest national park, in the mountains along the Cameroonian border, with the country's largest chimpanzee population.

See park
National Park

Yankari National Park

Nigeria's most visited park, known for its elephant herds and for the Wikki warm springs.

See park

Similar countries

Where else might I want to travel?

Sierra Leone

Same region: West Africa

Côte d’Ivoire

Same region: West Africa

Ghana

Same region: West Africa

Senegal

Same region: West Africa

Species documented in Nigeria

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Conservation

284 species found

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Based on what we already know about Nigeria.

ParkCross River

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Yellow-casqued HornbillVulnerable

Yellow-casqued Hornbill

Ceratogymna elata

CheetahVulnerable

Cheetah

Acinonyx jubatus

Common HippopotamusVulnerable

Common Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus amphibius

GiraffeVulnerable

Giraffe

Giraffa camelopardalis

LionVulnerable

Lion

Panthera leo

LeopardVulnerable

Leopard

Panthera pardus

African LeopardVulnerable

African Leopard

Panthera pardus pardus

African ManateeVulnerable

African Manatee

Trichechus senegalensis

MandrillVulnerable

Mandrill

Mandrillus sphinx

SpurdogVulnerable

Spurdog

Squalus acanthias

Grey-necked RockfowlVulnerable

Grey-necked Rockfowl

Picathartes oreas

TarponVulnerable

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

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