Taï National Park is a
national parkA national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in
Côte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
containing one of the last areas of primary
rainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
in
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. It was inscribed as a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 1982 due to the breadth of its flora and fauna. Five
mammalMammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
speciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of the Taï National Park are on the
red list of threatened speciesThe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
:
Pygmy HippopotamusThe pygmy hippopotamus is a large mammal native to the forests and swamps of western Africa . The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal...
,
Olive ColobusThe olive colobus or Van Beneden's colobus is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in tropical West Africa, ranging from Sierra Leone to Nigeria. Its natural habitats are second growth within tall forests, palm forests and swamps...
monkeys,
LeopardThe leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
s,
ChimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s and
Jentink's DuikerJentink's Duiker, Cephalophus jentinki, also known as Gidi-Gidi in Krio and Kaikulowulei in Mende, is a forest-dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Liberia, south-western Côte d'Ivoire, and scattered enclaves in Sierra Leone...
.
Taï National Park is approximately 100 km from the Ivoirian coast on the border with
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
between the Cavally and
Sassandra RiverThe Sassandra River is a river of western Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of northwestern Côte d'Ivoire, and the Gouan River , which originates to the west in the highlands of Guinea...
s. It covers an area of 3,300 km² with a 200 km²
buffer zoneA buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
up to 396 m.
The Tai Forest reserve was created in 1926 and promoted to
National ParkA national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
status in 1972. It was recognised as a
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Biosphere ReserveThe Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
in 1978 and added to the list of Natural World Heritage Sites in 1982.
The Tai Forest is a natural reservoir of the
EbolaEbola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...
virus. The
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
has expressed concern over the proximity of this reservoir to the International Airport at
AbidjanAbidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...
.
Geography
The park consists of 4,540 km² of tropical evergreen forest located at the South Western corner of
Côte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, bordering
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
. Altitudes vary from 80m to 396m (Mt. Niénokoué). The Park is situated on a
PrecambrianThe Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
Granite
PeneplainA peneplain is a low-relief plain representing the final stage of fluvial erosion during times of extended tectonic stability. The existence of peneplains, and peneplanation as a geomorphological process, is not without controversy, due to a lack of contemporary examples and uncertainty in...
of
migmatitesMigmatite is a rock at the frontier between igneous and metamorphic rocks. They can also be known as diatexite.Migmatites form under extreme temperature conditions during prograde metamorphism, where partial melting occurs in pre-existing rocks. Migmatites are not crystallized from a totally...
,
biotitesBiotite is a common phyllosilicate mineral within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . More generally, it refers to the dark mica series, primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more aluminous endmembers...
and
gneissGneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
which slopes down from the gently undulating drier north to more deeply dissected land in the south where the rainfall is heavy. This plateau at between 150-200 meters is broken by several granite
inselbergsA monadnock or inselberg is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain...
formed from
plutonicA pluton in geology is a body of intrusive igneous rock that crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Plutons include batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, and other igneous bodies...
intrusions, including the Mont Niénokoué in the southwest. A large zone of varied schists runs north-east to south-west across the park, dissected by tributaries of the main watercourses which run parallel to it: the N'zo, Meno and Little Hana and Hana rivers, all draining southwest to the river Cavally. In the wet season these rivers are wide, but in the dry season become shallow streams. The northern border of the adjoining N’Zo Faunal Reserve is formed by the large reservoir behind the
Buyo DamThe Buyo Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant of the Sassandra River in Ivory Coast. Sassandra River in Ivory Coast. It has a power generating capacity of 165 MW enough to power over 111,000 homes...
on the N'zo and
SassandraThe Sassandra River is a river of western Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of northwestern Côte d'Ivoire, and the Gouan River , which originates to the west in the highlands of Guinea...
rivers. There is some swamp forest in the northwest of the Park and in N'zo. The soils are ferralitic, generally leached and of low fertility. In the southern valleys there are hydromorphic gley and more fertile alluvial soils (DPN,1998). Gold and some other minerals exist in small quantities.
Climate
There are two distinct climatic zones of sub-equatorial type. Annual rainfall ranges from a mean of 1700 mm in the north to 2200 mm in the southwest, falling from March/April to July, with a shorter wet season in September to October. There is no dry season in the south but in the north it is marked from November to February/March, accentuated briefly by dry northeasterly
HarmattanThe Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March...
wind. These only began to affect the region about 1970 after half the country’s forests had been felled. There is only a small temperature fluctuation between 24°C to 27°C due to oceanic influence and the presence of forests, but mean diurnal temperatures can range from 25°C to 35°C. The relative humidity is high (85%). The prevailing winds are monsoonal from the south-west. In 1986
Côte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
suffered a 30% rainfall deficit, possibly due to loss of forest cover: 90% of the country has been deforested in the past fifty years resulting in greatly diminished evapotranspiration (DPN,1998; Reizebos et al. 1994).
Flora
The Park is one of the last remaining portions of the vast primary Upper Guinean rainforest that once stretched across present-day
TogoTogo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
,
GhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
,
Côte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
,
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
to
Guinea-BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
. It is the largest island of forest remaining in
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
remaining relatively intact. Its mature tropical forest lies within a
WWFThe World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
/IUCN Centre of Plant Diversity and in the centre of endemism of eastern
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and western
Côte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, probably as the result of having been an Ice Age refugium, having over 50 species endemic to the region. The Park contains some 1,300 species of higher plants of which 54% occur only in the Guinean zone. The vegetation is predominantly dense evergreen
ombrophilousTropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
forest of Upper Guinean type of 40–60m emergent trees with massive trunks and large buttresses or stilt roots.
Two main types of forest can be recognised grading from diverse moist evergreen forest with leguminous trees in the southern third to moist semi-evergreen forest in the north. Large numbers of epiphytes and lianes form an important element at the lower levels including
PlatyceriumPlatycerium is a genus of about 18 fern species in the polypod family, Polypodiaceae. Ferns in this genus are widely known as staghorn or elkhorn ferns due to their uniquely-shaped fronds...
, Nephrolepis biserrata, Drymaria and Asplenium africanum. The Sassandrian moist evergreen forest on
schistoseThe schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
soils in the south-west is dominated by species such as
EbonyEbony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...
(Diospyros gabunensis), Diospyros chevalieri, Mapania baldwinii, Mapania linderi and Tarrietia utilis, with numerous endemic species, especially in the lower Cavally Valley and the Meno and Hana depressions near Mont Niénokoué. The last stands of the large endemic tree Kantou guereensis are here. The poorer soils of the north and south-east support species such as palm
Eremospatha macrocarpa, west African ebony
Diospyros mannii,
Diospyros kamerunensis,
Parinarii chrysophylla,
Chrysophyllum perpulchrum and
Chidlowia sanguinea. Species such as
Gilbertiodendron splendidumGilbertiodendron splendidum is a tall forest tree of lowland swamp forests of coastal West Africa in the Fabaceae family. It is found in Upper Guinean forests along coastal regions of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Sources:* Hawthorne, W. 1998. . ...
,
Symphonia globuliferaSymphonia globulifera is a timber tree native to Central America, South America and Africa. This plant also used as a medicinal plant and ornamental plant.-Distribution:Native:...
and
Raphia occur in the swamp forests of river backwaters and oxbows. The
inselbergA monadnock or inselberg is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain...
s are vegetated, according to their substrate, with savanna-like grassland and deciduous trees such as Spathodea campanulata. Plants once thought to be extinct, such as Amorphophallus staudtii, have been discovered in the area. Since commercial timber exploitation officially ceased in 1972, the forest has recovered well, although large areas are dominated by planted species.
The forest plants still play a large role in the lives of people in the Taï region. The fruit of
Thaumatococcus danielliiThaumatococcus daniellii is a species of tropical flowering plant known for being the natural source of thaumatin, an intensely sweet protein which is of interest in the development of sweeteners. It is a large, rhizomatous, flowering herb native to the rainforests of Ghana and surrounding African...
locally known as Katamfe or katempfe, Yoruba or Soft Cane is used in traditional medicine and contains a protein substance five thousand times sweeter than sugar cane. The bark of the
Terminalia superbaTerminalia superba is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa....
, or "tree of malaria", is used by the ethnic Kroumen for the treatment of malaria. This means that the park is an attic of genetic potential not yet explored by natural science and medicine.
Fauna
The fauna is fairly typical of West African forests but very diverse, nearly 1,000 vertebrate species being found. The Park contains 140 species of mammal and 47 of the 54 species of large mammal known to occur in the Guinean rain forest, including twelve regional endemics and five threatened species. The region’s isolation between two major rivers has added to its particular character.
Mammals
Mammals include 11 species of primates:
Western Red ColobusThe western red colobus is a species of Old World monkey found in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana. All other species of red colobuses have formerly been considered subspecies of P. badius. It is often hunted by the common chimpanzee...
(
Procolobus badius),
Diana MonkeyThe Diana monkey is an Old World monkey found in West Africa, from Sierra Leone to Côte d'Ivoire.The Diana monkey ranges from 40 to 55 cm in length, excluding its tail, which is of a uniform 3–4 cm diameter and 50–75 cm long. Adults weigh between 4–7 kg...
(
Cercopithecus diana),
Campbell's Mona MonkeyCampbell's mona monkey , also known as Campbell's guenon and Campbell's monkey, is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family...
(
Cercopithecus campbelli),
Lesser Spot-nosed MonkeyThe lesser spot-nosed monkey, lesser spot-nosed guenon, lesser white-nosed guenon, or lesser white-nosed monkey is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, possibly Gambia, possibly Guinea-Bissau, and...
(
Cercopithecus petaurista) and
Greater Spot-nosed MonkeyThe greater spot-nosed monkey or Putty-nosed monkey is one of the smallest Old World monkeys. It is a guenon of the C. mitis group, native to West Africa and living to some extent in rain forests but more often in the transition zone between rain forest and savannah. It is primarily arboreal and...
(
Cercopithecus nictitans),
Black-and-white ColobusBlack-and-white colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the brown colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. The word "colobus" comes from Greek κολοβός kolobós , and is so named because its thumb is a stump.Colobuses are herbivorous, eating...
(
Colobus polykomos),
Ursine ColobusThe ursine colobus is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo, as well as very southernmost Burkina Faso...
(C
olobus vellerosus),
Green colobusThe olive colobus or Van Beneden's colobus is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in tropical West Africa, ranging from Sierra Leone to Nigeria. Its natural habitats are second growth within tall forests, palm forests and swamps...
(
Procolobus verus),
Sooty MangabeyThe sooty mangabey is an Old World monkey found in forests from Senegal east to Ghana. It is famous for being believed to be the monkey that HIV-2 might have originated in before jumping species...
(
Cercocebus atys), the
Dwarf GalagoPrince Demidoff's bushbaby , also known as Prince Demidoff's Galago, is a species of primate in the Galagidae Family...
(
Galago demidovii) and
Bosman’s pottoThe potto is a strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family. It is the only species in genus Perodicticus...
(
Perodicticus potto). There were more than 2,000 West African
chimpanzeesThe common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...
(
Pan troglodytes verus) in the 1980s. In 1995 Marchesi et al. estimated the total number of chimpanzees in Tai to be 4,507, with perhaps 292 in N’Zo and nearby reserves (however there is no doubt that such numbers have declined in the last 15 years). They are noted for using tools (DPN,1998). Further information on the current status of Great Apes within in this park is available at the following link http://apes.eva.mpg.de/apeswiki/index.php/Ta%C3%AF_National_Park .
Also found are two bats,
Buettikofer's Epauletted Fruit BatBuettikofer's Epauletted Fruit Bat is a species of megabat in the Pteropodidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna...
(
Epomops buettikoferi) and
Aellen's Roundleaf BatAellen's Roundleaf Bat is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Liberia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and caves...
(
Hipposideros marisae),
Pel's Flying SquirrelPel's Flying Squirrel or Pel's Scaly-tailed Squirrel is a species of rodent in the Anomaluridae family.It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Liberia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat...
(
Anomalurus peli),
Giant PangolinThe Giant Pangolin is a pangolin species. Members of the species inhabit Africa with a range stretching along the equator from west Africa to Uganda. The Giant Pangolin is the largest species of pangolin, or "scaly anteaters" – the large, scaled mammals belonging to the Manidae family. It...
(
Manis gigantea),
Tree pangolinThe Tree Pangolin is one of eight extant species of pangolin and is native to equatorial Africa. Also known as the White-bellied Pangolin or Three-cusped Pangolin, it is the most common of the African forest pangolins.-Taxonomy:The Tree Pangolin belongs to the subgenus Phataginus and some...
(
Manis tricuspis) and
Long-tailed PangolinThe Long-tailed Pangolin , also called the Black-bellied Pangolin or ipi, is an arboreal pangolin native to the sub-Saharan forests of Africa. Its common name is derived from its especially long tail...
(
Manis tetradactyla),
Liberian MongooseThe Liberian Mongoose is a mongoose that was discovered in Liberia in 1958. Little was known about the animal except what local natives related. The animals were said to live in small groups and fed on earthworms and various other insects. The exact distribution is unknown, but may extend from...
(
Liberiictus kuhni),
African Golden CatThe African Golden Cat is a medium-sized wild cat distributed over the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is about long, and has a tail of about in length...
(
Profelis aurata),
LeopardThe leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
(
Panthera pardus),
African Forest ElephantThe African Forest Elephant is a forest dwelling elephant of the Congo Basin. Formerly considered either a synonym or a subspecies of the African Savanna Elephant , a 2010 study established that the two are distinct species...
(
Loxodonta africana cyclotis), which in 2001 numbered only about 100 individuals in the south of the Park compared to some 1,800 in 1979,
Red River HogThe red river hog , also known as the bush pig , is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests...
(
Potamochoerus porcus),
Giant forest hogThe Giant Forest Hog is native to wooded habitats in Africa and generally is considered the largest wild member of the Suidae . Despite its large size and relatively wide distribution, it was only described by scientists in 1904...
(
Hylochoerus meinertzhageni ivoriensis), Dwarf or
Pygmy HippopotamusThe pygmy hippopotamus is a large mammal native to the forests and swamps of western Africa . The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal...
(
Hexaprotodon liberiensis) numbered at around 500 in 1996 is one of the few viable populations remaining, Water Chevrotain (
Hyemoschus aquaticus), The Bongo (
Tragelaphus euryceros),
African Forest BuffaloThe African Forest Buffalo is smaller than the Cape Buffalo, with horns that curves out backwards and upwards. Usually weighing , they are reddish brown in color. Its native habitat is the equatorial forest found in central and western Africa, and its diet consists primarily of grasses, twigs, and...
(
Syncerus caffer nanus) and an exceptional variety of forest
DuikerA duiker is any of about 21 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa.Duikers are shy and elusive creatures with a fondness for dense cover; most are forest dwellers and even the species living in more open areas are quick to disappear...
s including
Jentink's DuikerJentink's Duiker, Cephalophus jentinki, also known as Gidi-Gidi in Krio and Kaikulowulei in Mende, is a forest-dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Liberia, south-western Côte d'Ivoire, and scattered enclaves in Sierra Leone...
(
Cephalophus jentinki),
Banded or Zebra DuikerThe Zebra Duiker is a small antelope found in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.Zebra Duikers have gold or red-brown coats with distinctive zebra-like stripes, dark markings on their upper legs and russet faces. They grow to 90 centimetres in length, 45 centimetres in height and weigh...
(
Cephalophus zebra),
Maxwell's DuikerMaxwell's Duiker , is a small antelope found in western Africa.They grow to 30 inches in length with a typical shoulder height of 14.5–16 inches and weigh around 11 pounds . Its coat is either grey-brown or grey, with a white underbelly and white markings on its face...
(
Cephalophus maxwelii),
Ogilby's DuikerOgilby's Duiker , is a small antelope found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, southeastern Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea's Bioko Island, and, possibly, Gabon...
(
Cephalophus ogilbyi),
Black DuikerBlack duiker is a forest dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Nigeria....
(
Cephalophus niger),
Bay DuikerThe Bay Duiker is a forest dwelling Duiker found in Gabon, southern Cameroon and northern Congo as well as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the southern parts of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Benin...
(
Cephalophus dorsalis),
Yellow-backed DuikerThe Yellow-backed Duiker , is an antelope found in central and western Africa. They have the widest range of any duiker in the genus Cephalophus....
(
Cephalophus sylvicultor) and the
Royal AntelopeThe Royal Antelope is a West African antelope, only 25–30 cm high at the shoulder and weighing only 3.2–3.6 kg — it is the smallest of all antelopes. Their calves are small enough to fit into the average person's open hand...
(
Neotragus pygmaeus). Forest rodents include the
Rusty-bellied Brush-furred RatThe Rusty-Bellied Brush-Furred Rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone,...
(
Lophuromys sikapusi), the
Edward's Swamp RatEdward's Swamp Rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone....
(
Malacomys edwardsi) and the
Woodland DormouseThe Woodland Dormouse is a species of rodent in the Gliridae family. It is endemic to South Africa. It is also known as African Dwarf Dormouse, African Pygmy Dormouse, Woodland Dormouse, or colloquially as Micro Squirrel...
(
Graphiurus murinus). Also recorded in the park is
Stochomys defua, which is characteristic of secondary forest.
Birds
The Park lies within one of the world’s Endemic Bird Areas. At least 250 bird species have been recorded to date, 28 being endemic to the Guinean zone. There are 143 species typical of primary forest, including
African crowned eagleThe Crowned Eagle or Crowned Hawk-eagle , is a very large, powerful, crested bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa it is restricted to suitable habitat in the eastern areas. It is the only extant member of the genus Stephanoaetus...
(
Stephanoaetus coronatus),
Lesser KestrelThe Lesser Kestrel is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across southern central Asia to China and Mongolia. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European...
(
Falco naumanni),
White-breasted GuineafowlThe White-breasted Guineafowl, Agelastes meleagrides is a medium-sized, up to 45cm long, terrestrial bird of the guineafowl family. It has a black plumage with a small, bare red head, white breast, long black tail, greenish brown bill and greyish feet...
(
Agelastes meleagrides),
Rufous Fishing-owlThe Rufous Fishing Owl, Chouette D'Ussher, Chouette-pêcheuse Rousse, Búho Pescador Rojizo, or Cárabo Pescador Rojizo is a species of owl in the Strigidae family....
(
Scotopilia ussheri),
Brown-cheeked HornbillThe Brown-cheeked Hornbill is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family.It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo....
(
Ceratogymna cylindricus),
Yellow-casqued HornbillThe Yellow-casqued Wattled Hornbill , also known as the Yellow-casqued Hornbill, is found in the rainforest of coastal regions of West Africa, for example in Côte d'Ivoire....
(
Ceratogymna elata),
Western Wattled Cuckoo-shrikeThe Western Wattled Cuckooshrike is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone....
(
Campephaga lobata),
Rufous-winged Thrush-babblerThe Rufous-winged Illadopsis is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family.It is found in Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo....
(
Illadopsis rufescens),
Green-tailed BristlebillThe Green-tailed Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family.It is found in West Africa in south-west Ghana, southern Ivory Coast, Liberia, southern Guinea and southern Sierra Leone....
(
Bleda eximia),
Yellow-throated Olive GreenbulThe Yellow-throated Olive Greenbul is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family.-Distribution and habitat:...
(
Criniger olivaceus),
Black-capped Rufous-warblerThe Black-headed Rufous Warbler , also known as the Black-Capped Rufous Warbler, is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical...
(
Bathmocercus cerviniventris),
Nimba FlycatcherThe Nimba Flycatcher, Melaenornis annamarulae , is a small passerine bird of the genus Melaenornis in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is native to the West African countries of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone....
(
Melaenornis annamarulae),
White-eyed PriniaThe White-eyed Prinia , also known as the White-eyed Warbler, is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is found in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* BirdLife...
(
Prinia leontica),
Lagden's Bush-shrikeLagden's Bush-shrike is a bird species in the bushshrike family .It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests...
(
Maloconotus lagdeni), Copper-tailed Glossy-starling (
Lamprotornis cupreocauda),
White-necked RockfowlThe White-necked Rockfowl is a medium-sized bird in the family Picathartidae with a long neck and tail. Also known as the White-necked Picathartes, this passerine is mainly found in rocky forested areas at higher altitudes in West Africa from Guinea to Ghana. Its distribution is patchy, with...
(
Picathartes gymnocephalus) and
Gola MalimbeThe Gola Malimbe is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family.It is found in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss....
(
Malimbus ballmanni) (Fishpool & Evans, 2001). More on birds is given in Thiollay (1985).
Reptiles & Amphibians
Two crocodiles, the
Slender-snouted CrocodileThe African Slender-snouted Crocodile is a species of crocodile. Recent studies in DNA and morphology suggest that it may belong in its own genus, Mecistops, but at present most continue to use Crocodylus for this species.African Slender-snouted Crocodile are native to freshwater habitats in...
(
Crocodylus cataphractus) and the
Dwarf crocodileThe dwarf crocodile is an African species of crocodile. It is also the smallest extant crocodile species in the world. Recent sampling has identified three genetically distinct populations...
(
Osteolaemus tetraspis), and several turtles, such as the
Hawksbill turtleThe hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in its genus. The species has a worldwide distribution, with Atlantic and Pacific subspecies. E. imbricata imbricata is the Atlantic subspecies, while E...
(
Eretmochelys imbricata), Leatherback Turtle (
Dermochelys coriacea), Green turtle (
Chelonia mydas), and
Home's Hinge-back TortoiseThe Home's hinge-back tortoise is a species of turtle in the Testudinidae family.It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and possibly Togo....
(
Kinixys homeana), are amongst about 40 species of reptiles that live in the park. The 53 species of amphibians include the
True toadBufonidae is the family of the true toads, members of the order Anura . They are the only family of anurans all members of which are known as "toads." The bufonids now comprise more than 35 genera, Bufo being the most widespread and well known.-Characteristics:True toads are widespread and occur...
(
Bufo taiensis), and a tree frog found only in 1997 (
Hyperolius nienokouensisHyperolius nienokouensis is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is endemic to Ivory Coast.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, swamps, and intermittent freshwater marshes.It is threatened by habitat loss....
).
Insects
Arthropod represent the largest share of biomass in tropical forests. The species include a rare freshwater mollusc
Neritina tiassalensisNeritina tiassalensis is a species of small freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.-References:* Brown, D.S. 1996. . Downloaded on 7 August 2007....
and many thousands of invertebrate species including 57 dragonflies, 95 ants, 44 termites and 78 scarabeid beetles (DPN, 1998).
Local human population
The original tribes of the forest region were the Guéré and Oubi, for
totemicA totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
reasons, did not eat chimpanzees and thus preserved the chimpanzee populations. French influence dated from only the mid 19th century. Evidently, there was little settlement in the area before the late 1960s, when reservoir construction in the N’Zo valley and, later, drought in the Sahel, pushed people southwards. A population in the area of about 3,200 in 1971 had grown to 57,000 twenty years later. The park is now neighbored by 72 villages, and hundreds of illegal squatters live in the Park.
Of the three main groups of farmers, the rural Bakoué and Kroumen cleared forest selectively, sparing medicinal trees; by contrast, the native
BaouléThe Baoulé are an Akan people and one of the largest groups in the Ivory Coast. The Baoulé are farmers who live in the eastern side of Côte d'Ivoire . The Baoule people are represented by religion, art, festivals, and equal society . There are more than sixty-five different Akan-speaking ethnic...
, and incomers who include refugees displaced by the dam on the N’Zo river, from the Sahel and from the conflicts in both
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and Côte d’Ivoire who now form 90% of the population, have indiscriminately fragmented and destroyed much of the forest in the buffer zone. In its place, cash and food crops are planted in shifting cultivation in order to lessen the mortality from malaria. The east side of the park has suffered most from this. These people neither support the park, nor are informed about it by the authorities (DPN, 2002; Gartshore et al.1995).
Scientific research and facilities
The park was the site of a
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Man & Biosphere project on the effects of human interference within the natural forest ecosystem. This was a vast research project carried out under the auspices of the Institute for Tropical Ecology and the Centre for Ecological Research at the
University of Abobo-Adjamé in the nearby town of Taï. International scientific cooperation was exemplified by the Ivoirian, French, Italian, German and Swiss teams which worked together on various research programs. This level of research continues. The site and research projects have great potential for training and scientific study. The French Office de la recherche scientifique et technique outre-mer (ORSTOM) has worked here for a number of years. In 1984, a Dutch team surveyed the area, using an ultra-light aircraft for low altitude photography to identify dying trees for use as timber. There has been Ivorian research into forest termites, included under the IUCN/
WWFThe World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
Plants Campaign 1984-1985; and by the government Institute of Forestry into plantation crops. Between 1989 and 1991
BirdLife InternationalBirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
conducted the Tai Avifaunal Survey, summarised in Gartshore et al. (1995). The Dutch Tropenbos Foundation published a detailed fully referenced study of the Park in 1994 (Reizebos et al.). From 1979 to 1985, Swiss researchers studied chimpanzees, continuing until 1994 into the transference of an
ebolaEbola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...
virus to humans and antibodies for it to be found in other animals.
There is an ecological station (L’Institut d’Ecologie Tropicale) in the Audrenisrou basin in the core zone and a German team base at Fedfo camp in the buffer zone. There is also a Biosphere Reserve station 18 km south-east of Taï village, which consists of several prefabricated houses, a communal kitchen, two well-equipped laboratories, and an electric generator. It is controlled and financed nationally and managed by 2-3 Ivoirian personnel.
Between 1993 and 2002, the Project Autonome pour la Conservation du Parc National de Taï (PACPNT), financed by GTZ,
KfWKFW may refer to:*Keith Fullerton Whitman , an American musician*KfW or Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, a German public-sector financial institution...
and
WWFThe World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
with the , worked to improve management and surveillance, monitored and inventoried the condition of the flora and fauna, launched pilot conservation projects with local people, and made comparative studies of seven species of monkeys. Phase I reported in 1997 and Phase II in 2002. This project has produced over 50 papers covering subjects such as tool-using and the ebola virus in chimpanzees and the fauna as a potential source of foods and medicines. In 2002 technical and scientific management of the Park was assigned to the national Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Reserves which covers management policy, wardening, research, education and communication for all parks. A Scientific Council of the involved NGOs international and local, was set up. A second research station and a canopied walkway on the east side of the Park have been. However, a national workshop on the forest zone held in 2002-3 focused on the lack of scientific research, monitoring, evaluation, coordination with foreign institutions and access to research done; also the persistence of low levels of popular participation and sustainable development of protected forest lands (UNESCO, 2003). A better inventory of the forest’s resources is still needed.
External links