Wildlife of Ivory Coast

Once covered in tropical rainforest, much of this habitat has been cleared, the remaining terrain being gallery forests and savanna with scattered groups of trees, resulting in a decrease in biodiversity.

The Guinean forest-savanna mosaic belt extends across the middle of the country from east to west, and is the transition zone between the coastal forests and the interior savannas.

[5] In the southwest of the country, the Taï National Park protects the largest area of forest remaining in the Upper Guinean rainforest belt of West Africa.

The vegetation is predominantly dense evergreen ombrophilous forest with emergent trees up to 60 m (200 ft) tall, with massive trunks and large buttresses or stilt roots.

This mature tropical forest includes some 1,300 species of higher plants and has been designated as a World Heritage Site and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

There are also 21 species of artiodactyl present including hippopotamus, bushpig, bongo, warthog, buffalo, kob, red-flanked duiker, bushbuck, waterbuck, roan antelope and oribi.

[9] Mammals recorded in the Taï National Park include the pygmy hippopotamus and 11 species of monkey,[10] as well as African forest elephants, buffaloes, pangolins, bushbuck, leopards, chimpanzees and zebras.