African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Ghana Photograph by Kate Newman   Western Africa: Stretching from Senegal through Niger Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   632,600 square miles (1,638,500 square kilometers) -- about four times the size of California Critical/Endangered

· Hide-away Grass
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Hide-away Grass

Imagine grass so tall that if you were walking through it and looked up, it would frame the sky. That’s the kind of grass that grows in the West Sudanian Savanna. No wonder local people call it elephant grass.

Special Features

"Flat and hot" describes this ecoregion, where large trees and tall grasses grow. It stretches across western Africa, from Senegal on the Atlantic Coast through the inland country of Niger. Rainfall, which occurs only during a few months of the year, varies from 23 inches (600 mm) in the north to 39 inches (1,000 mm) in the south. During the dry season, trees such as acacia, Combretum, and Terminalia species lose their leaves. This vast region supports more than 1,000 species of plants that grow almost nowhere else.

	Although all giraffes belong to the same species(Giraffa camelopardalis), some subspecies have large, dark spots outlined in pale tones while others have leafy-looking spots on a pale background. Whatever their skin pattern, all giraffes can run fast and live a long time without water.

Wild Side

Among the small mammals of the West Sudanian Savanna, white-toothed shrews and zebra mice are endemic. Although most populations have been severely reduced, large mammals that live in this habitat include the giant eland and the roan antelope. Other mammals, such as elephants and western giraffes, also roam these lands. Predators such as lions, wild dogs, and cheetahs hunt the hoofed mammals of the savanna. Endemic reptiles and amphibians include Wagler’s blind snakes, Mali screeching frogs, and brown running frogs. Birds such as blue-cheeked bee-eaters, European rollers, and blackcaps are present during the winter, which coincides with their migration along a major flyway. Some of the wetlands are protected. They are among 46 protected areas that range in size from 4 to over 4,000 square miles (10 to 11,000 sq. km).

Cause for Concern

Human activities have reduced, degraded, and fragmented this ecoregion. Trees are cut for wood and charcoal, and grasses are overgrazed by livestock. In addition, hunting--both commercial and subsistence--has eliminated many of the large mammals from large parts of this ecoregion. Migratory birds, which depend on seasonal wetlands, are at risk as these wetlands are polluted or drained or flooded by water storage projects.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.