Wildlife of Cameroon
[1][2] The habitats of these species include the southern region comprising tropical lowland, coastline on the Gulf of Guinea.
[1] Cameroon is an important breeding area for marine and freshwater species such as crustaceans, mollusks, fish, and birds.
Initial coverage of protected areas was in savanna region but it now covers all the ten provinces of the country with all the diversity of its topographic, climatic, hydrological biological features.
The ecoregion lies above 900 metres (3,000 ft) elevation, and is surrounded at lower elevations by the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests at the southern end of the range, and by forest-savanna mosaic along the central and northern ends of the range; the Cameroon Highlands form the boundary between the Guinean and Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic ecoregions, consisting of sub-montane to montane forests and finally sub alpine grasslands.
[9] The major river drainage is the Chari subbasin of the Congo Basin, which covers Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
[2] Cameroon's first protected area in the northern part of the country was established in 1932 under the French colonial administration of the black francophone Africa.
Following the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1992, the number of protected areas increased substantially and were well distributed covering all the ten provinces of the country in widely differing topographic, climatic, hydrological and biological conditions.
Typical afromontane species are Nuxia congesta, Podocarpus milanjianus, Prunus africana, Rapanea melanophloeos, and Syzygium guineense bamendae.
[4] The most endangered species is the Cross River gorilla, a great ape, whose last reported count was 300, spread over 11 scattered sites both in Cameroon and Nigeria.
For preservation of this species of ape, the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary and the Takamanda National Park have been specifically established in Cameroon.
[2] In the dense forest areas of the rainforest ecoregion the fauna commonly reported are; red and green monkeys, chimpanzees, mandrills, rodents, bats, and large number of birds like the small sunbirds, giant hawks and eagles.
Olive ridley, leatherback, and green turtles are reported to nest on the sandy shoreline between Equatorial Guinea and the Wouri Estuary in Cameroon during November to January.
[6] Other small mammals present include Stuhlmann's golden mole (Chrysochloris stuhlmanni); the long-tailed pangolin (Manis tetradactyla) and the African clawless otter (Aonyx capensis).
The seven endemic species are: the Bamenda apalis (Apalis bamendae), Bangwa forest warbler (Bradypterus bangwaensis), white-throated mountain-babbler (Kupeornis gilberti), banded wattle-eye (Platysteira laticincta), Bannerman's weaver (Ploceus bannermani), Bannerman's turaco (Tauraco bannermani), and Mt.
Forest loss in the Bamenda-Banso Highlands and also to certain degree in the Obudu Plateau is reported as more than 50% since the 1960s because of conversion to agricultural lands and good rainfall conditions.
Hunting for ivory, skins and other animal parts is also reported in many national park areas in Cameroon, from within the country and also from cross border poachers.
Conservation efforts in the Sangha River Tri-national Protected Area are in place in a trans-boundary program sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) with participation by the Central African Republic, the Congo and the Cameroon.
This covers a total area of 2,800,000 ha (6,918,951 acres) encompassing the Dzanga Sangha Special Reserve (the second largest area in the world) in the Central African Republic, which incorporates within its ambit the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and the Lobéké National Park in Cameroon.
Appropriate actions are under implementation in respect of anti-poaching, research and the promotion of tourism to the rain forests (the mammal species of particular interest are elephants, apes, ranging from western lowland gorilla to chimpanzees and bongo).
[18][19] A particular success story of the enabled protection, particularly in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is of the special group of 'eco-guards', who operate under the MFEE (Ministry of Forestry Economy and the Environment), unlike the past practice of deploying rangers, which is reported to have stopped illegal human activities taking place in the park such as poaching.
