Okomu National Park
| Okomu National Park | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Location: | Nigeria | ||
| Specialty: | Edo region | ||
| Next city: | Benin City , | ||
| Surface: | 197.12 km² | ||
| Founding: | 1999 | ||
The Okomu National Park is the smallest of the eight national parks in Nigeria and is in the state of Edo , about 60 km north-west of Benin City . The national park covers an area of 197.12 km² and is the core area of the 1082 km² Okomu Forest Reserve, which was established in 1935. In the area of the Okomu Forest Reserve live rare and endangered animal species, for this reason the Okomu Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1985, which was granted the status of a national park in 1999.
The area of the national park is very flat and is about 30 to 60 meters above sea level. The soils in this area are alkaline clay soils that are poor in nutrients and lie on sedimentary rocks from the Eocene . In the area of the national park, the groundwater level is quite high, so that numerous lakes and marshlands form in the rainy season . The amount of precipitation is around 2100 mm per year and the average daily temperature is around 30.2 ° C, with a humidity of 65%.
The forest stands are formed by the tree species the kapok tree ( Ceiba pentandra ), the Celtis zenkeri , the abachi tree ( Triplochiton scleroxylon ), Antiaris africana , Pycnanthus angolensis and Alstonia congoensis and represent the last large contiguous rainforests west of the Niger in Nigeria.
The fauna of the national park is very rich in species, so 33 mammal species have been recorded, including the forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis ), the African buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ), the red-bellied monkey ( Cercopithecus erythrogaster ) and the rare primate collar indication ( Cercocebus torquatus ).
The avifauna is just as rich in species, so a total of 150 different bird species were recorded in counts, including the golden-helmeted hornbill ( Ceratogymna elata ), the black-helmeted hornbill ( Ceratogymna atrata ) and all four finch species Nigrita fusconata, -bicolor, -luteifrons and -canicapilla.
