Niger

África

179

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Niger is more than two thirds desert, and its natural life is arranged in three belts: the Sahara of the north, with the volcanic massifs of the Aïr and the dune sea of the Ténéré; the central Sahel, of shrub steppe and transhumant grazing; and the Sudanian belt of the southwest, beside the Niger river, with wooded savannah and gallery forest. The Aïr and Ténéré reserves form one of the largest protected areas in Africa and are the last great refuge of the addax, an antelope able to live without drinking. To the east, the Termit and Tin Toumma reserve protects what remains of the classic Saharan fauna: dorcas and dama gazelles, Saharan cheetah and desert fox. In the southwest, W park, shared with Benin and Burkina Faso, keeps the last significant lion and elephant population in West Africa.

The nature of Niger

National animal: The West African giraffe serves as the national emblematic animal

Did you know?

The last giraffes of West Africa live in Niger, in the Kouré area, a short distance from Niamey, and they do so not inside any fenced park but sharing territory with villages and crops. Their population fell to some fifty animals in the 1990s and has since passed six hundred thanks to a coexistence agreement with local farmers, in one of the most widely cited cases of community conservation on the continent.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Occidental / Sahel (pais sin litoral)Dato no disponible con precision agregada en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Desertico calido (BWh) en el norte (80% del territorio, Sahara)
•Semiarido saheliano (BSh) en el sur

Main biomes

•Desierto sahariano (norte, incluye el macizo del Aïr)
•Sabana y bosque saheliano-sudanes (sur)
•Erg y mar de dunas
•Macizo volcánico sahariano
•Estepa saheliana
•Sabana sudanesa arbolada
•Bosque de galería
•Charca estacional
•Meseta pedregosa

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral)

Flagship wildlife

•Jirafa de Africa Occidental (unica poblacion silvestre superviviente del mundo, en la "zona de las jirafas" cerca de Kouré)
•Addax (En Peligro Critico)
•Gacela dama
•Adax y oryx en poblaciones relictuales
•Adax
•Gacela dorcas
•Guepardo sahariano
•León africano
•Elefante africano de sabana
•Hipopótamo
•Zorro del desierto
•Buitre dorsiblanco africano

Notable endemic species

•Solo una especie vegetal endemica confirmada (Rhyncosia airica, en el macizo del Aïr), de un total de 2.124 especies de plantas registradas
•3.200 especies animales registradas, incluyendo 168 mamiferos, 512 aves, 150 reptiles y anfibios y 112 peces

Notable threatened species

•Addax (En Peligro Critico, antilope sahariana entre las mas amenazadas del mundo)
•Gacela dama (En Peligro)
•Jirafa de Africa Occidental (Vulnerable, unica poblacion silvestre mundial, en fuerte recuperacion tras decadas de proteccion comunitaria)

Notable protected areas

•Reserva Natural de Tadres
•Complejo transfronterizo WAP (W-Arly-Pendjari, compartido con Benin y Burkina Faso)
•Reserva Natural Nacional del Aïr y Tenere (Patrimonio Mundial en peligro)
•Reservas Naturales del Aïr y del Ténéré
•Reserva de Termit y Tin Toumma
•Parque Nacional de la W
•Zona de las Jirafas de Kouré
•Reserva de Gadabedji
•Valle del río Níger

Main conservation threats

•Caza furtiva historica de antilopes saharianas (addax, gacela dama)
•Desertificacion y avance del Sahara sobre zonas saheliana
•Muchas areas protegidas practicamente inexistentes sobre el terreno pese a su designacion formal

Notable natural phenomena

•La "zona de las jirafas" cerca de Kouré alberga la unica poblacion silvestre mundial de jirafa de Africa Occidental, un exito de conservacion comunitaria unico en el continente

Conservation

The addax is critically endangered and its wild population is down to a few dozen animals in the Termit, under pressure from motorised hunting and oil prospecting. The Gadabedji reserve has been reinforced with reintroductions of Sahelian wildlife.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Kouré year-round for the giraffes, best first thing. W park between February and May, at the height of the dry season, for large mammals. The Aïr in winter for Saharan wildlife.

Sources: Interactive Country Fiches (UNEP-GRID) - Biodiversity Niger | One Earth - Sahelian Acacia Savanna

Savanna Desert