Location: Northwest of Benin Map
Area: 2755 km²
Pendjari National Park situated in the Northwest corner of Benin.
Pendjari National Park gets its name from Pendjari River. National
park protects the delicate biosphere of the river along with
watershed are of about 2755 km². It is home to various species of
antelopes, hartebeests, West African Lions, buffalos and
hippopotamuses and many other animals.
The Penjari Nature Reserve was founded in 1954, in
1961 it received the status of a National Park, and in 1986 it was
declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is located in the north-west
of Benin, between the Atacor Mountains and the border with Burkina
Faso, in the basin of the Penjari River, at an altitude of 100 to
500 meters above sea level. In the immediate vicinity are Arly
National Park, Reserve Partiel de Pama (both in Burkina Faso), as
well as W National Park (covering parts of the territories of Benin,
Burkina Faso and Niger).
Penjari National Park covers an area
of 2755 km². Natural landscape - wooded savannah, swampy and
grassy meadows. About 1,000 mm of rain falls annually on average
here. The pride of the reserve is the cheetah population protected
here. In addition, in a significant amount in Penjari you can see
lions, elephants, hyenas, leopards, buffalos, hippos, crocodiles,
pythons, Nile monitor lizards, water goats and various types of
antelopes.
Up to 6,000 foreign tourists visit the Panjari
National Park every year.
The Pendjari is located in the north of Benin. The nearest larger town is Natitingou. The park is part of the WAP national park complex. Other large nature reserves in the immediate vicinity are the Arly National Park and the Réserve partial de Pama in Burkina Faso and the cross-border National Park W, which includes parts of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. There are also hunting zones bordering the national park, which represent a buffer zone to the more intensively used agricultural areas in the surrounding area.
The national park is home to most of the typical big game species of
the West African savannahs. The symbol of the national park is the
cheetah. However, the cat has become rare in the area. Around the
year 2000, an estimated two to three pairs were still found in the
adjacent W National Park. Pendjari National Park and the part of W
National Park in Benin were probably home to at least 5-13 cheetahs
in 2007, and the number is increasing.
The population of West
African lions in Pendjari and the adjacent Arly and W national parks
comprises around 300 to 400 animals and is the largest in all of
West Africa. It is striking that the males in the area almost
without exception have no or only very weak manes. The West African
Pendjari lions are genetically very different from those in South
and East Africa.
The African wild dog, which was already
considered extinct, is still present in small numbers in the park.
In addition, Pendjari National Park is home to other larger
predators such as leopards, spotted hyenas, striped jackals and
African civets.
The Pendjari National Park is also home to
several hundred African elephants. The population in the park has
been relatively stable over the last few decades and amounts to over
800 animals (as of 2005-2010). In total, over 3,800 elephants live
in Pendjari and the adjacent protected areas, i.e. the WAP national
park complex. The area is home to the largest elephant population in
West Africa. Larger herbivores are also represented by Sudan buffalo
(Syncerus brachyceros), hippos, warthogs and numerous antelope
species. Among the antelopes are roan antelope, West African sable
antelope (Alcelaphus major), korrigum lyre antelope (Damaliscus
lunatus korrigum), cobantilope, oribis and crowned duiker.
Waterbuck, bushbuck, reedbuck and red-flanked duiker are rather
rare. In addition to the green baboon, other primates include the
Tantalus vervet monkey and the hussar monkey. An inventory conducted
in the spring of 2000 concluded that most species were in decline.
This appears to be particularly true for the leopard and the
Korrigum lyre antelope, both of which may still be present but have
not been confirmed. Only the populations of West African roan
antelope (approx. 1,500 animals), roan antelope (approx. 2,000
animals) and buffalo (approx. 2,700 animals) had increased at the
time of the census in 2000. The most common larger species at the
time of the count were the green baboon, the West African grass
buffalo and the kobantilope (approx. 2600 animals).
The
population of the Defassa waterbuck (Kobus defassa) has fallen from
around 3,000 animals in the 1970s to just 120 animals in 2004.
The Pendjari, which is a tributary of the Volta, flows through
Pendjari National Park. There are also several large shallow bodies
of water called Mare, some of which dry out during dry periods. The
fish fauna of Pendjari National Park was first studied in 2004 and
consists of a total of 41 fish species from 34 genera and 17
families. The most species-rich family is the Nile pike, with 8
species (20%), followed by the cichlids with 5 species (12%), the
tetras and the pintail catfish with 4 species each (10%) and the
spiny catfish, the carp fish and the straight tetras 3 species each
(7%). The pike are represented by two species (5%), the remaining
families by one (2%). The most commonly caught fish is the African
bony finfish (19%), followed by Nile pike (13%), straight tetras and
cichlids (around 13%), tetras (11%), pintail catfish (10%) and gill
plecos (8%).
Most fish species are found both in rivers and
in shallow waters. The population of bony goosebirds, African pike
tetras, giant perches and cichlids are restricted to the stagnant
waters. Most of the pike, Nile pike, carp fish, straight tetras,
spiny catfish and gill pike catfish also prefer the stagnant waters.
In contrast, slender fish and electric catfish were only found in
the river. The river is also the main habitat of tetras and pintail
catfish. The greater Nile pike and the glass catfish occur in both
habitats.
Reptiles found in Pendjari include crocodiles,
pythons and Nile monitors. Soft-shelled turtles also occur.
Pendjari National Park encompasses a variety of habitats from the lowlands of Pendjari to the mountains of the Atakora Range, river courses, stagnant waters and inselbergs. It is covered by forest savannah, swamps and grassy areas. At an altitude of 100 to 500 m, the annual rainfall is around 1000 mm.
In 2008 there were around 6,500 visitors, plus around 70 hunters,
who provide a large part of the park's income in the three adjacent
hunting areas. The total income from tourism amounted to around EUR
220,000 in 2008 and 2009. Of this, around a third were photo safaris
and two thirds were hunting tourism. Tourism thus covered around a
third of the park's total financial needs. All other income,
however, had little impact. The visitors to the national parks were
predominantly French and Benin. The proportion of other
nationalities was comparably low.
As a result of Islamist
violence in the countries bordering northern Benin, the Pendjari
National Park was initially classified as an unsafe area by the
French Foreign Ministry, initially partially and then completely as
of May 10, 2019. Visits are not recommended after several tourists
were abducted and had to be forcibly rescued by troops from
Operation Barkhane.[ The German Foreign Office strongly advises
against traveling to Benin's Pendjari and W national parks in May
2019 due to terrorism in neighboring countries.
In 2012, the situation in the national park and the adjacent hunting reserves worsened after the withdrawal of German development aid. Poachers are said to have shot up to 20 elephants, among other things.