Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Kalamaloué National Park, situated in the north of the country, is bordered to the north by the Chari river, where it forms the border with Chad, to the east by the town of Kousséri and, in the south, by the Logone flood-plain (CM002). The park lies partly in the flood-plain of the Chari river and is crossed by several branches of the river and associated levées. In lower-lying parts a dense
Mimosa pigra scrub dominates while, locally,
Echinochloa stagnina forms productive grasslands. There are
Tamarindus indica and
Celtis africana woodlands on the levées while most of the higher areas are covered by open
Balanites aegyptiaca woodland and annual grassland. The southern part of the park is dominated by
Acacia nilotica woodland.
See Box and Table 3 for key species. Due to its varied habitat, Kalamaloué holds a large avifauna, but one which has not been surveyed systematically.
Circus macrourus is a common winter visitor. It is likely that Kalamaloué also harbours a population of
Prinia fluviatilis since the species is known from immediately adjacent parts of Chad in identical habitat. Five species of the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome (A04) have also been recorded; see Table 3. There are counts of between 300–400
Balearica pavonina.
Non-bird biodiversity: An internationally important population of Gazella rufifrons (VU) occurs, and may even be increasing. The park used to hold good numbers of Damaliscus lunatus korrigum (VU), but they have been much reduced by poaching and drought. Kalamaloué is also an important refuge for Loxodonta africana (EN), with a population of 300 individuals, which move from Waza (CM003) during the dry season.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Kalamaloué National Park was created in 1973. Despite this, large mammal populations have declined, due to the construction of the main highway linking Maroua and Kousséri in the early 1980s, and the civil war in neighbouring Chad. This degradation accelerated in the early 1990s, the result of the increasing neighbouring population and political unrest. Current threats include cutting of firewood, overgrazing and fishing.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kalamaloué National Park (Cameroon). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kalamaloué-national-park-iba-cameroon on 23/12/2024.
