A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. According to Britannica, there exists four savanna forms; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.
The giant eland, also known as the Lord Derby eland and greater eland, is an open-forest and savanna antelope. A species of the family Bovidae and genus Taurotragus, it was described in 1847 by John Edward Gray. The giant eland is the largest species of antelope, with a body length ranging from 220–290 cm (86.5–114 in). There are two subspecies: T. d. derbianus and T. d. gigas.
Kainji National Park is a national park in Niger State and Kwara State, Nigeria. Established in 1978, it covers an area of about 5,341 km2 (2,062 sq mi). The park includes three distinct sectors: a part of the Kainji Lake in which fishing is restricted, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast.
The Mandara Mountains are a volcanic range extending about 190 km along the northern part of the Cameroon–Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south to the north-west of Maroua in the north. The highest elevation is the summit of Mount Oupay, at 1,494 m (4,900 ft) above sea level.
The Comoé National Park is a Biosphere Reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Zanzan and Savanes Districts of north-eastern Ivory Coast. It is the largest protected area in West Africa, with an area of 11,500 km2, and ranges from the humid Guinea savanna to the dry Sudanian zone. This steep climatic north–south gradient allows the park to harbour a multitude of habitats with a remarkable diversity of life. Some animal and plant species even find their last sanctuary in some of the different savanna types, gallery forests, riparian grasslands, rock outcrops or forest islands.
The Northern Congolian forest–savanna mosaic is a forest and savanna ecoregion of central Africa. It extends east and west across central Africa, covering parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda. It is part of the belt of transitional forest-savanna mosaic that lie between Africa's moist equatorial Guineo-Congolian forests and the tropical dry forests, savannas, and grasslands to the north and south.
Burkina Faso is largely wild bush country with a mixture of grass and small trees in varying proportions. The savanna region is mainly grassland in the rainy season and semi desert during the harmattan period. Fauna, one of the most diverse in West Africa, includes the elephant, hippopotamus, buffalo, monkey, lions, crocodile, giraffe, various types of antelope, and a vast variety of bird and insect life. The country has 147 mammal species, 330 aquatic species including 121 species of fish and 2067 different plant species. Of the plant species, the dominant endemic species are shea tree (Butyrospermum parkii) and the baobab, the former plant species has immense economic value to the country.
Benin has varied resources of wildlife comprising flora and fauna, which are primarily protected in its two contiguous protected areas of the Pendjari National Park and W National Park. The former is known for many species of avifauna and the latter park is rich in mammals and predators. In addition, many other forest reserves are noted in the country but are not easily accessible, well protected or adequately surveyed for its wildlife resources. The protected area system of Benin defined as National Protected Area System is situated in the northern Benin, mostly with a woody savanna ecosystem. It covers 10.3% of the national territory and is part of the three nation transboundary W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) complex.
The wildlife of Nigeria consists of the flora and fauna of this country in West Africa. Nigeria has a wide variety of different habitats, ranging from mangrove swamps and tropical rainforest to savanna with scattered clumps of trees. About 290 species of mammal and 940 species of bird have been recorded in the country.
The Bunyoro rabbit or Central African rabbit is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. It is monotypic within the genus Poelagus. It is found in central Africa and its typical habitat is damp savannah, often with rocky outcrops.
Fleurydora is a monotypic genus of plants in the family Ochnaceae. The only species is Fleurydora felicis. It is endemic to Guinea. F felicis is a shrub or small tree, growing up to 15 meters in height. It grows on rocky areas in the Guinean forest-savanna and Guinean montane forests ecoregions. It has large yellow flowers. Its fruits are small flattened winged seeds, which are dispersed by wind, unlike other species of Ochnaceae which have fleshy fruits.
Deux Balés National Park is a national park located in central eastern Burkina Faso. It is within Mouhoun Province just west of the Black Volta River and at an elevation of 235-310m.
Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wildlife refuge. The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m, with a sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park. The park's entrance is reached through the nearby town of Larabanga. The Levi and Mole Rivers are ephemeral rivers flowing through the park, leaving behind only drinking holes during the long dry season. This area of Ghana receives over 10 mm per year of rainfall. A long-term study has been done on Mole National Park to understand the impact of human hunters on the animals in the preserve.
The Kamuku National Park is a Nigerian national park in Kaduna State, Nigeria, with a total area of about 1,120 km2 (430 sq mi). The park has a typical Sudanian Savanna ecology.
Wildlife in the Central African Republic is in the vast natural habitat located between the Congo Basin's rain forests and large savannas, where the human density was smaller than 0.5 per km2 prior to 1850. The forest area of 22.755 million, considered one of the richest storehouses of wildlife spread over national parks, hunting reserves and community hunting areas, experienced an alarming loss of wildlife because of greed for ivory and bushmeat exploitation by hunters – mostly Arab slavers from across the borders of the Central African Republic with Chad and Sudan.
Zemongo Faunal Reserve is a protected reserve of the Central African Republic. Established in 1925, it was extended and redesignated in 1975, although still open to hunting in 1980. The main rivers are the Vovado River and the Goangoa River, covering an area of 10,100 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi), of which 1,720 square kilometres (660 sq mi) is inundated forest. The reserve contains dense Isoberlinia savanna woodland and gallery forests and supports eastern chimpanzees and other primate species. The reserve formerly held a large elephant population and a diverse antelope community.
The Bamingui-Bangoran National Park complex is a national park and biosphere reserve located in the northern region of the Central African Republic. It makes up part of the Guinea-Congo Forest biome. It was established in 1993. The Vassako Bolo Strict Nature Reserve is in the midst of the park.
The Timneh parrot, also known as the Timneh grey parrot or Timneh African grey parrot, is a West African parrot. Formerly classified as a subspecies of the grey parrot Psittacus erithacus timneh, it is now considered a full species Psittacus timneh. In aviculture, it is often referred to by the initials TAG and is commonly kept as a companion parrot.
The Mandara Plateau mosaic, also known as the Mandara Plateau woodlands, is a tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion located in the Mandara Mountains of northern Nigeria and Cameroon.
Isoberlinia tomentosa is a hardwood tree native to the African tropical savannas and Guinean forest-savanna mosaic dry forests. At one time this tree was disregarded as a useful resource, but with the selective felling of such valuable species as Khaya senegalensis and Afzelia africana, it is now better appreciated.
