Kakum National Park

Kakum National Park is on coast of southern Ghana, in West Africa. It protects an area of rainforest, home to endangered mammals such as forest elephants, bongo antelopes and primates like the Diana monkey. The park is rich in butterflies and birds, including African grey parrots and hornbills. The Canopy Walkway, suspended 30 meters above the ground, provides treetop views of the forest.

Address: R82, Ghana

Area: 144.8 mi²

Established: 1992

Fauna

The park contains rare animals, including forest elephants, forest buffalo, civet and cats.^[4] Two hundred forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), potto (Perodicticus potto), Demidoff's galago (Galago demidovii), African civet (Viverra civetta), two-spotted palm civet(Nandinia binotata), leopard (Panthera pardus), bongo (Tragelaphus euryceros), many species of duikers (small antelopes), red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus pictus), giant forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni), long-tailed pangolin (Manis tetradactyla), white-belied pangolin (Manis tricuspis), giant pangolin (Manis gigantea), many species of forest squirrels, North African crested porcupine(Hystrix cristata), dwarf crocodile (Osteolamus tetraspis), monitor lizards, Home's hinged tortoise, serrated tortoise and many other fauna are reported from the park.

Primates in the park include the Colobus vellerosus (VU), Procolobus verus (LR/nt), and Cercopithecus diana roloway (CR).

The initial Feasibility Study for the establishment of Kakum National Park included a preliminary biodiversity survey of the fauna of the Kakum Forest Reserve and adjoining Assin-Attandanso Forest Reserve, and a survey of the area's resident African Forest Elephant population. The elephant population size in 1990 was estimated on the basis of spoor data to be 100-150 individuals (Dudley, Mensah-Ntiamoah, & Kpelle 1992).

Avifauna

The Bird Life International included the park area under its list of Bird Life Areas in Ghana in 2002 under the criteria A1, A2, A3. The species recorded are 266 and the species though identified but yet to be confirmed are 56. All the species are resident and most of them are under the Least Concern categorization. The globally threatened species listed under the Near Threatened category are: green-tailed bristlebill (Bleda eximius), red-fronted antpecker (Parmoptila rubrifrons), rufous-winged illadopsis (Illadopsis rufescens) and copper-tailed glossy-starling (Lamprotornis cupreocauda). The Vulnerable species identified are white-breasted guineafowl (Agelastes meleagrides), brown-cheeked hornbill (Bycanistes cylindricus), yellow-casqued hornbill (Ceratogymna elata) and yellow-bearded greenbul (Criniger olivaceus).