Wildlife of Burkina Faso - Geography

Geography

Arli National Park The Mékrou River near Point Triple in the W National Park during Rainy Season.

Wildlife area in the landlocked Burkina Faso in western Africa is spread over a plateau area of 270,764 km2 (104,543 sq mi). The dominant habitat types are the grassy savanna in the north with transition to the varying thin forests in the south.

Based on ecological characteristics and climatic conditions, the country is divided under three bio-climatic zones namely, the Sahelian Zone, the Sudanian Zone and the Sudano-Guinean Zone. The Shaelian Zone covers 25% of the area of the northern part of the country,which is further sub divided under the Sahelian and sub-Sahelian sectors. In the Sahlian sector, where the rainfall is only of the order of 400 millimetres (16 in), the vegetation is mostly of shrubs and wooded grassland or steppe. The sub-Sahelian sector represents the transition zone, receives an average annual rainfall of 400–600 millimetres (16–24 in) and represents the transition between the Sahelian and Sudanian bioclimatic zones. The vegetation in this sector has moist Sudan savanna vegetation in the river valleys, while the western half is largely inhabited by humans; most of the large trees in the northern half of the sector are reported to have vanished due to climate change. The Sudan Zone receives higher rainfall in the range of 600–1,000 millimetres (24–39 in) and is further subdivided into three sectors namely, the central plateau sector, the Mouhoun sector and the Pendjari–Mékrou sector and has widely varying vegetation depending on human occupation for agriculture and mostly savanna vegetation, predominantly wooded savanna. the Pendjari–Mékrou sector with its flood plains and many ephemeral rivers, is less populated by humans but has largest population of mammals in the country; vultures and raptors are also reported. The Sudano-Guinean Zone in the south-west corner of the country, is a humid zone with an annual rainfall in the range of 1,000–1,200 millimetres (39–47 in). It is heavily wooded with wooded savannas and gallery forests; it has the ambiance of a park with its widespread vegetation of Khaya senegalensis, Daniellia oliveri and Isoberlin forests, tall grasses and savanna vegetation is also a dominant feature. Its human population distribution is low but the wild life population is the second largest in the country.

The area is drained by many rivers, the most important of them being the Black Volta (Mouhoun), the Red Volta (Nazinon), and the White Volta (Nakambé), which flow into Ghana on the south and form the Volta River.