Wildlife of Mali


The wildlife of Mali, composed of its flora and fauna, is widely varying from the Saharan desert zone to the Sahelian east–west zone, to Mali, a landlocked francophone country in North Africa; large swathes of Mali remain unpopulated but has three sub-equal vegetation zones; the country has Sahara Desert in the north, the Niger River
Basin at its center and the Senegal River on the south.
The vegetation zones are the Saharan, the Sahel, and the Sudan–Guinea Savanna. Mali has many protected areas which include two national parks, one biosphere reserve, six faunal reserves, two partial faunal reserves, two sanctuaries, one chimp sanctuary, six game reserves, and three Ramsar Sites.
Protected area in Mali, under legal acts and regulations, cover about, which is 4.7% area of the country. Adding the buffer zone and the peripheral zone of the Biosphere of Baoul, it becomes 6.2% of the total area of the country. The rich biodiversity of the country is reflected in its more than 1,700 plant species and about 1,000 animal species.

Geography

Niger River valley

The Niger River valley, which dominates the topography of Mali, drained by the Niger River and its tributaries. Along its course, the central southern region is the narrowest and is known as the Inner Delta or the Inundation Zone of the Niger, formed of of flood-plains, along a river length of ); these form its wetlands of great ornithological interest.

Saharan zone

Habitat wise, the Saharan zone occupies a third of the country, and is made up of Sahara Desert and the Sahel. There is hardly any vegetation as the habitat comprises "unvegetated regs, hamadas, dunes and wadis" and also a few oases.
On the south-eastern part of this zone is the Adrar des Iforhas Massif rising to a height of, which is part of the Ahaggar Massif in southern Algeria. Average precipitation in the zone is reported to be less than.

Sahelian zone

The Sahelian zone, widest in an east-west direction, has the Dogon plateau elevation) and the Hombori mountains with the Inundation Zone of the Niger River located to its west. Average annual rainfall varies from about in the south to under in the north; the vegetation also changes accordingly from acacia-wooded grassland and deciduous bushland to thin coverage of annual grasslands.
in Mali.

Sudan–Guinea zone

The Sudan–Guinea zone is part of south-western region of Mali. The Senegal River and the Bafing and Baoulé Rivers rise here, and the basin is known for the lowest-lying land in the country of area which is below the contour.
The zone also includes the Manding plateau which is part of Fouta Djallon Mountains of Guinea. This forms the upper region of the catchment area that lies between the Senegal and Niger River systems. Geological formation reported is of sandstone. Vegetation in this zone is mainly of Isoberlinia sp.

Protected areas

There is very little wild life and a few national parks in Mali. The reserve and largest national park is the Boucle du Baoulé National Park. located to the northeast of Bamako. There is hardly any wild life left in this park due to intense poaching of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, chimpanzees and lions. Monkeys are the only animals seen now.
The Reserve de Ansongo Menaka is in the southeast, near the border with Niger. The Reserve de Douentza is the most interesting in terms of wildlife. Bafing National Park. is in the south west bordering with Guinea which is a dry area between Mopti and Gao; it is home for desert elephants which move with change of seasons.
The other notable parks are the Wongo National Park and the Kouroufing National Park. The Bafing Biosphere Reserve covers an area of and the Bafing Chimpanzee Sanctuary is exclusive to conserve chimpanzees.

Flora

The dominant vegetation in the inland delta of the Niger consists of hygrophilous grassland species of Eragrostis atrovirens, Panicum anabaptistum, Panicum fluviicola, Vetiveria nigritana, Echinochloa stagnina, wild rice Oryza barthii, Andropogon gayanus, Cynodon dactylon and Hyparrhenia dissolute. The many tree species reported are in patches. Dominant species of grasses in the transition zone between the higher levels of flood plains and its flooded zones are Acacia nilotica with Mimosa and Ziziphus spp. and Guiera senegalensis, Borassus and Hyphaene. Cram cram grasses are scattered in Mali.

Fauna

Mammals

There are 146 species of mammals in Mali of which 2 are critically endangered, 3 are endangered, 10 are vulnerable, and 3 are near-threatened. The threatened species are the following.
Chimpanzees are found in the southern most forests and monkeys are found in the Parc national de la Boucle du Baoule. Elephants in the Gourma region, known as the Sahelian herds of 360 to 630 numbers, migrate over during the dry season between Burkina Faso and Mali to lake areas and return to Mali during the rainy season. Mali lions are found only around the Faleme River in the far west of cerde of Kenieba. Papio papio and Massoutiera mzabi'' are also reported.
The African manatee is found all along the Niger River was hunted for meat in the past but its meat is now not marketed, which may be due its decreasing numbers or due to the legal protection given for its conservation.

Reptiles

A few reptile species reported are Cerastes cerastes and Geochelone sulcata. Other species of snakes or cobra are: Bitis arietans puff adder, Cerastes cerastes horned viper, Dispholidus typus boomslang, Echis jogeri Joger's carpet viper, Echis leucogaster white-bellied carpet viper, Echis ocellatus West African carpet viper, Naja katiensis West African brown spitting cobra, Naja melanoleuca forest cobra, Naja nigricollis black-necked spitting cobra, and Naja senegalensis Senegalese cobra.
Mali Uromastyx Uromastyx maliensis species is a widely known species of lizard in Mali.

Aqua fauna and amphibians

There are approximately 200 fish species in Mali. Fishing is a common practice in the Niger and other rivers in Mali, and the most popular variety of fish is capitaine. The Mecistops cataphractus is also reported.
Among the amphibians, Tomopterna milletihorsini and Bufo chudeaui are notable in Mali.

Insects and worms

are a unique feature of Mali found in many uncleared locations. Their habitat is notably along with specific trees and plants, and alates or flying ants are the species housed in the ant hills. A documentary on these termite hills has been made under the title “Termites: Castles of Clay”, which is about the "Soul of the White ant". Other insects reported are Dracunculus medinensis and Necator americanus. Scorpions are noted; the female Anopheles mosquito carries malaria.

Birds

Seventeen Important Bird Areas have been designated in Mali, encompassing an area of . Ten include wetlands, nine are in the Inner Delta of the Niger river, four include the Sudan–Guinea ecoregion of the Savanna biome, four are in the Sahel biome, and two in the Sahara–Sindian biome. The Kulicoro firefinch, also known as the Mali firefinch, is the only endemic bird of Mali, found in rocky and grassy areas near Mopti and Bamako.
In these IBAs 622 birds species have been record, including 335 resident birds out of which 202 breed in Mali. Of these, 137 species of the 243 migratory species are of Palearctic origin. There are twelve species which are of global conservation concern and seven are vagrants.
These are Marmaronetta angustirostris, Aythya nyroca, Circus macrourus, Falco naumanni, Neotis nuba , Gallinago media, Glareola nordmanni, Acrocephalus paludicola, Lagonosticta virata, Prinia fluviatilis, Ceratogymna elata. The Inner Delta is also rich in heron species, particularly Bubulcus ibis and Casmerodius albus. Poicephalus senegalus, Serinus mozambicus and Haliaeetus vocifer are some of the other species reported in Mali.

Threats

The threats to the wildlife of Mali are on account of deforestation intensive hunting pressure, proliferation of livestock farming, extension of agricultural land and also due to desertification. In the past, droughts in the 1970s and 1980s have also contributed to the decline of wildlife resources of the country.
Increased anthropogenic and livestock pressures, due to people moving to the southern part of the country and settling on river banks, has also compounded the threats. Particular mention of effect on the fauna in the wild is of antelope species which are threatened. Other significant contributors to biodiversity degradation relate to pollution, mining, crop cultivation and also indiscriminate traditional slash and burn farming. Another aspect in the past was of concentrating protection measures only in the southwestern savannah region.

Conservation

The conservation of the protected areas is the responsibility of the National Parks Department of Mali. However, conservation and preservation of forest lands rests with the Forest Service and both these agencies fall under the purview of the Department of Water and Forests of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Livestock. In the past, the traditional practice of protecting the forests and its flora and fauna rested with the Village elders. However, with Islam making inroads into the country, traditional rules have been relegated to a backseat and has resulted in over exploitation of the forest resources, which has been further aggravated by increased anthropological pressures.
A major conservation effort has been launched with funding provided by the Global Environmental Facility to be completed by 2014 with the objective of substantially increasing the area under protection estate and reinforce the management instruments to achieve effective protection area, particularly the southwest region in respect of endangered mammal species of Derby eland and the western chimpanzee.

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