Niokolo-Koba National Park
The Niokolo-Koba National Park on the banks of the Gambia river is known for its wildlife. This includes elephants, lions, leopards, chimpanzees, baboons, hippopotamuses and the Western giant eland. Around 330 species of birds have been sighted in the park.
Most of the park consists of relatively flat woodland savannah and semi-arid Sudanese 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.
The site has been under threat for long from poaching and encroachment of human population and wandering livestock. Other threats are the proposed Sambangalou dam and a large basalt quarry. The numbers of large mammals have dropped to under 900 (UNESCO 2007).
Map of Niokolo-Koba National Park
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Ben Potterton
Niokolokoba is a great reserve, I did'nt expect such a great range of species in Senegal. I have visited Simenti twice with West African Tours travelling from The Gambia once in 2006 and then again in 2008. On our second visit the species list included Leopard, Roan Antelope, Hippopotamus,Kob, Oribi, Waterbuck, Ground Hornbill, Black Crowned Crane, Saddle-billed Stork and Lion. We missed Hunting Dog and Chimpanzee (but we found fresh nests).
This park is a short / cheap flight from the UK and has great wildlife, some interesting villages and Simenti makes a great base.
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Site Info
Site History
2007 In Danger
Critically low mammal populations, the ongoing management problems and the impacts of the proposed new dam on the Gambia river a few kilometres upstream of the park
1981 Inscribed
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Unesco Website
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