Data Zone
Country/territory: Nigeria
IBA criteria met: A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 224,400 hectares (2,244.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2017 | poor | high | medium |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
Yankari is located in the east-central part of the country, some 72 km north of the Bauchi–Gombe road at Dindima. The park is bisected by the Gaji river. Two major habitat-types occur; dry savanna woodlands and riparian vegetation, which includes areas of fadama. Common woodland trees include Afzelia africana, Burkea africana, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Isoberlinia doka, Monotes kerstingii, Combretum glutinosum, Detarium microcarpum and Anogeissus leiocarpus. Gardenia aqualla and Dichrostachys glomerata are frequent in the shrub layer while Hyparrhenia involucrata and H. bagirmica are the dominant grasses. In riparian forest Khaya senegalensis, Vitex doniana, Acacia sieberiana, Tamarindus indica, Borassus aethiopum and Daniella oliveri are common. Characteristic of Yankari are large monodominant stands of Pteleopsis habeensis which grow in some drier areas along riverbanks, the only place in the country where such stands occur. In the seasonally flooded fadamas, Ficus spp. and Mitragyna sp. are the dominant trees, while tangles of Mimosa pigra dominate the shrub stratum.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3. Some 337 species have so far been recorded. Up to six Ciconia nigra have been recorded wintering and it is the only site where Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis is regularly seen.
Non-bird biodiversity: Large mammals include Loxodonta africana (EN) (330 in April 1999), Alcelaphus buselaphus (LR/cd), Syncerus caffer (LR/cd), Hippotragus equinus (LR/cd) and Panthera leo (VU).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Yankari Game Reserve (Nigeria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/yankari-game-reserve-iba-nigeria on 23/12/2024.