BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
ameroon is one of the most ecologically diverse
countries on the African continent. Between coastal mangrove swamps
and Mount Cameroon (4095 metres), west Africa's highest mountain,
lies a hot and humid southern region of dense tropical forests
of mahogany, ebony and obeche trees. The central region offers
a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees, and the northern vegetation
is principally sahelian savannah. There are over 9,000 plant species
in Cameroon, 150 of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Nearly 300 mammal species are found in the country,
including 29 species of primates. Particularly interesting are
the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and
three endangered monkeys of the Cercopithecus genus, the Preuss's
guenon, the red-tailed guenon, and the redcapped mangabey,
and a baboon native to central African forests, the drill (Mandrillus
leucophaeus).
Cameroon has one of Africa's largest protected giraffe
populations in its Waza National Park. Other parks and reserves
are home to important buffalo and elephant populations. A small
population of the critically endangered black rhino (Diceros
bicornis) also survives there.
Over 800 species of birds, including an endangered
partridge, the Mount Cameroon francolin (Francolinus camerunensis),
the Bannerman's crested turaco (Touraco bannermanni), and
banded wattle-eye (Platysteira cyanea), all endemic to
Cameroon, add to the country's biological wealth.
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