Mali

África

187

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Mali is divided between the Sahara in the north, the central Sahelian belt and the Sudanian savannah of the south, and its whole territory is organised around the Niger river, which crosses it in a great arc. Along its middle course the river overflows every year and forms the Inner Niger Delta, an immense floodplain that changes size with the rains and that sustains fisheries, transhumant herding and enormous concentrations of Palaearctic and African waterbirds. To the north, the Adrar des Ifoghas massif and the Saharan ergs hold wildlife adapted to extreme aridity. In the southeast, the Gourma keeps acacia grassland and seasonal pools, and the Bandiagara escarpment, a World Heritage Site, combines landscape, Dogon culture and a cliff fauna of raptors and hyraxes.

The nature of Mali

National animal: No official national animal; the hippopotamus and the elephant are the emblematic animals of local tradition

Did you know?

The elephants of the Gourma make the longest migration known in the species: an annual circuit of some six hundred kilometres across the Malian Sahel, following the availability of water and grazing between seasonal pools. It is one of the last desert elephant populations in the world, it survives outside any fenced park, and its route has been mapped with GPS collars in an attempt to keep the corridors open.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Occidental / Sahel (pais sin litoral)17 Areas Importantes para las Aves cubren aprox. 2,3% de la superficie del pais

Climate

•Desertico (BWh) en el norte (Sahara)
•Semiarido saheliano (BSh) en el centro
•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en el sur (sabana sudanesa)

Main biomes

•Desierto sahariano (norte)
•Sabana saheliana (centro)
•Sabana sudanesa y bosque de galeria (sur)
•Delta Interior del Niger (humedal estacional de gran relevancia continental para aves)
•Llanura inundable interior
•Sabana saheliana de acacias
•Erg sahariano
•Macizo rocoso desértico
•Sabana sudanesa arbolada
•Charca estacional
•Río de meandros

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral); el Delta Interior del Niger es un humedal de importancia mundial para aves acuaticas

Flagship wildlife

•Elefante del Gourma (poblacion de elefantes de sabana mas septentrional de Africa, con la migracion circular conocida mas larga del mundo, 32.000 km2 de rango)
•Leon de Mali (poblacion relictual, restringida al rio Faleme)
•Hipopotamo y cocodrilo del Nilo (Delta Interior del Niger)
•Manati de Africa Occidental
•Elefante africano de sabana
•Hipopótamo
•Manatí africano
•Gacela dorcas
•Chacal dorado
•Grulla coronada cuelligrís
•Pelícano común
•Cocodrilo del Nilo
•Zorro del desierto
•Buitre dorsiblanco africano

Notable endemic species

•Pajarito de fuego de Mali (ave semi-endemica del Delta Interior del Niger)
•Chimpances presentes en los bosques mas meridionales del pais

Notable threatened species

•Elefantes del Gourma (En Peligro Critico, menos de 350-700 individuos, poblacion de elefantes mas septentrional de Africa, con la migracion anual mas larga documentada para la especie: hasta 4.000 km recorridos por año)
•Leon de Mali (En Peligro Critico, poblacion muy reducida restringida al rio Faleme)
•Manati de Africa Occidental (Vulnerable, presente en todo el rio Niger)

Notable protected areas

•Reserva de la Biosfera de la Boucle du Baoule (mayor parque nacional del pais, aunque con fauna muy mermada por caza furtiva historica)
•Reserva de Elefantes del Gourma
•Delta Interior del Niger (humedal de importancia continental)
•Parque Nacional del Bucle del Baoulé
•Escarpe de Bandiagara
•Lago Debo
•Reserva de Ansongo-Ménaka

Main conservation threats

•Caza furtiva historica intensa de elefantes, jirafas, bufalos, chimpances y leones en Boucle du Baoule, con fauna casi desaparecida en ese parque
•Inseguridad y remotidad en las reservas del norte, que limitan la gestion efectiva
•Presion sobre el Delta Interior del Niger por uso agricola y ganadero

Notable natural phenomena

•Los elefantes del Gourma realizan la migracion circular documentada mas larga conocida para la especie, cubriendo un rango de 32.000 km2 en busca de agua y forraje entre Mali y el norte de Burkina Faso

Conservation

The Gourma elephants depend on agreements with local communities to share water in the dry season. Insecurity in the north and centre of the country has reduced surveillance against poaching.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Inner Niger Delta between December and February for waterbirds and the flood. The Gourma in the dry season, when the elephants gather at the pools. Bandiagara year-round for cliff-nesting raptors.

Sources: Save the Elephants - The Desert Elephants of Mali | Biology Insights - Mali Nature Wildlife Biomes Conservation | Wikipedia - Biodiversity of Mali | a-z-animals.com - Wildlife in Mali

Savanna Desert Freshwater