Born Free, Living Free / Discuss

Jonas Van de Voorde    says:

french : "La Réserve de Biosphère de la Pendjari", or "Parc National de la Pendjari".

The Pendjari National Park (PNP) lies in north western Benin and is named for the Pendjari River. It is part of a huge transfrontier complex : the WAP complex. It is the largest protected area in West Africa (50 000 square km) and involves three countries : Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. This area includes the Pendjari National Park in Benin, the Arly-Singou ecosystem in Burkina Faso, and the transfrontier W National Park in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Atakora hills and rocky cliffs form a natural fence of the park and make this region definitely one of the most beautiful places in Benin (I reckon it is the most beautiful place). The Pendjari is one of the most interesting parks of West Africa (if not the most) because of its isolation and its relatively large numbers of animals.

There is an area for tourists and an area for hunting (unfortunately... but hunting is a large income for the park). What makes me angry is that although lion hunting was banished for two years, it was reintroduced in 2004 (1 old male lion can now be hunted down every 2 years), although potentially, there could be much more lions in the park than there are now. Officially, lion hunting was reintroduced because lion numbers didn't increase during those 2 years, so hunting is not the reason why there are fewer lions than there could be... I believe it's a totally ridiculous theory and it's just for the money... Hunting is organised by french people and they probably also played a major role in the reintroduction of lion hunting, putting a lot of pressure...
Sorry for that, I'll continue my description of the park now ;)

The park used to be closed from May to December, but it is now open during the entire year. The best time to visit the park is definitely March-April. It's the dry season and spotting animals is much more easy. It's also the best period for taking pictures (best light).
The park can also be visited from december to march, no problem.
From June-July-August to November-December, most of the park is flooded...

Not many people visit the park and tourists visiting Benin usually ignore it, as it is remote and not as spectacular as East Africa.

Now, let's talk about more interesting stuff : the animals ;)

In West Africa, there are less animals than in East or Southern Africa. They are harder to find and some of them run away from cars. So many animals are difficult to photograph.

Four of the Big Five can be found in the park (elephant, lion, buffalo and leopard). Rhinos probably never lived in this part of the world. But although their presence is confirmed, finding a leopard seems to be impossible lol ! A friend of mine is a park ranger and he has been working in the park for 7 years, he never saw one... Park rangers don't actively search for animals but stil...
There are also cheetahs and wild dogs in the park, but in very few numbers and again, spotting them is very difficult. My friend saw them several times though (cheetahs : only twice).
Other carnivores include hyaenas (also difficult to observe), side-striped jackals (I've seen them several times, but not easy to spot neither), servals, caracals, wild cats, mongooses (I've seen a mongoose twice !), genets...
Like most carnivores these are nocturnal animals and since it isn't allowed to drive by night, you'll have to be very lucky in order to see one. Park autorities are planning to organise night drives, but right now it's forbidden.

So what CAN you see huh lol ? Well here's a (personal) list of "game" you will almost certainly see if you stay for 2-3 days :
- Kob (Cobe de Buffon) : the most abundant antelope in the Park. The males are really beautiful animals. It's like impala in East or Southern Africa : plenty of those ! They usually don't run away from cars.
- Buffalo (Buffle)
- Elephant
- if you have a minimum of luck and if you know how and where to look for them : lions
- Waterbuck (Cobe defassa)
- Western Hartebeest (Bubale)
- Roan Antelope (Hippotrague, Antilope-cheval, Antilope rouanne)
- Oribi (Ourébi)
- Bushbuck (Guib harnaché)
- Red-flanked Duiker (Céphalophe à flancs roux)
- Bohar reedbuck (Cobe des roseaux, Redunca)
- Bush Duiker (Céphalophe de Grimm)
- Warthog (Phacochère)
- Olive baboons (Babouin)
- Hippos (Hippopotame)
- Crocodiles
- Vervet monkeys (Vervet, singe vert)
- Patas monkeys (Patas, singe rouge)

and that's about it I think.

There are also topi in the park, but this is an endangered species in West Africa and there aren't many left. I've seen them a few times but they are very shy animals.

Buffalos (Syncerus caffer brachyceros) are a mix between Cape Buffalos (S.c. caffer) and Forest Buffalos (S.c. nanus : smaller, red or black, different horns...).

Elephants are a different species (DNA studies suggest the West African animals are sufficiently different genetically to be classified as a third species of African elephant). Sometimes they will charge you, but never has there been an accident in the park. Never did an elephant touch a car.

Lions have no mane and it is always a privilege to encounter them, as they are elusive and quite rare out here.

The park is also a wonderful place for birders, with over 460 bird species. I'll tell you which birds you can easily find in the park. But as there are quite a lot of those, I first need to get a book about birds back from my friend lol

Voila !

Now I hope you will pay a visit to the park if you go to Benin on holiday (or Burkina Faso or Niger) ! Like I said, it's not as spectacular as East and Southern Africa, so don't expect too much. But it's still beautiful and people who really like african wildlife will, at least, not be disappointed.

If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them.
Originally posted at 4:14AM, 27 October 2007 PDT (permalink)
Jonas Van de Voorde edited this topic 46 months ago.