Senegal

Niokolo-Koba National Park

WHS Score 2.16 Votes 11 Average 2.55

Niokolo-Koba National Park on the banks of the Gambia and other rivers is known for its diversity of wildlife.

Most of the park consists of relatively flat woodland savannah and semi-arid Sudanese forest, intermingled with wetlands. Wildlife, in numbers unique for this region, includes (at the time of inscription) elephants, lions, leopards, chimpanzees, baboons, hippopotamuses and the derby eland.

Community Perspective: The park was labelled “great” by our first reviewer, who visited in 2006 and 2008. More recently, however, the park has suffered from a severe loss in wildlife numbers due to poaching (IUCN Outlook 2020). Els in 2025 found it hard to reach areas with at least some animal activity.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Niokolo-Koba National Park (ID: 153)
Country
Senegal
Status
Inscribed 1981 Site history
History of Niokolo-Koba National Park
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • x
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • April 18, 2024 whc.unesco.org — Towards the removal of Niokolo-Koba National Park from the List of World Heritage in Danger: UNESCO supports Senegal’s National Parks Department
  • June 11, 2021 worldatlas.com — Rare Wildlife Images From Niokolo Koba National Park Give Birth To New Hope
  • Nov. 25, 2009 afriquejet.com — Niokolo Koba Park in peril

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Wildlife habitat: Fauna
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (28) .
Connections of Niokolo-Koba National Park
Geography
  • On National Border
    On Guinea border
  • Gambia River Basin
    The Park is named after the Niokolo-Koba, a major tributary of the Gambia which also flows through the park - "Located in a well-watered area along the banks of the Gambia rive" (UNESCO desc)
  • Contiguous National Sites
    Bassari Country (Bassari Salémata), via the buffer area, with Niokolo-Koba National Park
Trivia
Ecology
  • Crocodiles
    all three African crocodiles and dwarf crododile
  • Strepsirrhini
    Senegal bushbaby, potto
  • Lions
    Not enough data for estimation of Lion population, but "93 observations involving 253 lion sightings were made by NKNP guides and their clients over a period of four and a half years in the central tourist area of the Park which represents about 3% of the total area of NKNP." (see link)

    See threatenedtaxa.org

  • Reintroduced Species
    "The elephants are a recent reintroduction, after an earlier herd of several hundred was killed off." from IUCN
  • Elephants
    African elephant
  • Turtles and tortoises
    four tortoise species
  • Chimpanzee habitat
    "Other endangered species present include chimpanzees..." (AB ev); 626 chimpanzee nests found at Mt. Assirik (2024)

    See pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  • Over 300 bird species
    329 (Crit X)
  • Hippos
    "6000 hippopotamuses" (wiki)

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • African Wild Dog
    "The West African wild dog used to be widespread from western to central Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria. Now only two subpopulations survive: one in the Niokolo-Koba National Park of Senegal and the other in the W National Park of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. It is estimated that 70 adult individuals are left in the wild" (Wiki)
  • Eagles
    Martial eagle and Bateleur eagle (wiki)

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Savanna
    "the Niokolo-Koba National Park is sufficiently vast as to illustrate the major aspects of the Guinean savanna-type ecosystem" (integrity statement)
Damaged
World Heritage Process
  • Former In Danger List sites
    2007-2024
  • Inscribed on a single criterion only
    x. to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.
Human Activity
  • Indigenous groups expelled
    "The park was founded in 1954 as a means to conserve the area’s high biodiversity. It was later expanded in 1969, and now encompasses 9130km2. The establishment of the park led to the abandonment of 18 villages, which were relocated outside of the conservation area. The population of these villages either established entirely new settlements around the park or were integrated into pre-existing, traditional villages"

    See www.cambridge.org

WHS on Other Lists
Visiting conditions
WHS Names
News
whc.unesco.org 04/18/2024
Towards the removal of Niokolo-Kob…
worldatlas.com 06/11/2021
Rare Wildlife Images From Niokolo …
afriquejet.com 11/25/2009
Niokolo Koba Park in peril
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

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First published: 10/02/25.

Els Slots

Niokolo-Koba National Park

Niokolo-Koba National Park (Inscribed)

Niokolo-Koba National Park by Els Slots

Like Bulgaria, Senegal was quick off the mark, resulting in some WHS getting in early which are questionable now. Niokolo-Koba, named after the Niokolo (Koba) River and the Kob antelope, is an enormous park in the east of the country. At its inscription it was rich in mammals including “a large population of elephants”, but after decades of poaching (which has been curtailed only in recent years), few of that is left. It has chimps, lions and other location-specific mammal species that are clinging on to existence and are heavily supported by conservation NGOs such as Panthera. Still, it’s remarkable considering the circumstances that such small and isolated populations have managed to survive for so long in West Africa. 

Don’t expect to see them though, those elephants or lions which are so numerous in Southern and Eastern Africa – there are only a dozen or so here in a fairly inaccessible park. For a reality check, I recommend reading this trip report of someone who stayed in the park for 2 weeks in 2018 looking for wild dogs but saw none (no wild dogs, no lions, no elephants). Also, the park seems to leave the more interesting parts such as Mt Assirik to scientists only.

With my Gambian driver and guide, I stayed at Camp Wassadou, which lies just across the River Gambia from where the park begins. Some 20 other guests were present, which indicates that tourists still trickle in. On the afternoon of our arrival, …

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First published: 25/12/09.

Anonymous

Niokolo-Koba National Park

Niokolo-Koba National Park (Inscribed)

Niokolo-Koba National Park by Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Niokolokoba is a great reserve, I did'nt expect such a great range of species in Senegal. I have visited Simenti twice with West African Tours travelling from The Gambia once in 2006 and then again in 2008. On our second visit the species list included Leopard, Roan Antelope, Hippopotamus,Kob, Oribi, Waterbuck, Ground Hornbill, Black Crowned Crane, Saddle-billed Stork and Lion. We missed Hunting Dog and Chimpanzee (but we found fresh nests).

This park is a short / cheap flight from the UK and has great wildlife, some interesting villages and Simenti makes a great base.

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