Outamba-Kilimi National Park
Encyclopedia
Outamba-Kilimi National Park is located in northwest Sierra Leone
near the border with the Republic of Guinea. The park is divided into two areas, Outamba (741 km²) and Kilimi (368 km²). The area became a game reserve in 1974, and was made a National Park in January 1986. From Freetown it is reached by traveling to Makeni on excellent, new blacktop, from that point via the town of Kamakwie
the road is dirt and becomes more rough closer to the park. Vehicles must cross the Little Scarcies River
by ferry. There are camping facilities there as well as some primitive huts with double beds. The vegetation is a mixture of jungle
and savanna
h.
s, colobus monkeys and sooty mangabey
s; hippopotamus
es and pygmy hippos; elephant
s; wart hogs; rare bongo antelope
s and over a hundred species of bird
s. In earlier times the Park provided habitat for the endangered Painted Hunting Dog, Lycaon pictus, which has recently disappeared from the area, as well as throughout the entirety of Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
near the border with the Republic of Guinea. The park is divided into two areas, Outamba (741 km²) and Kilimi (368 km²). The area became a game reserve in 1974, and was made a National Park in January 1986. From Freetown it is reached by traveling to Makeni on excellent, new blacktop, from that point via the town of Kamakwie
Kamakwie
Kamakwie is a small town in Bombali District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of the town was over 8,098 in 2006 estimate...
the road is dirt and becomes more rough closer to the park. Vehicles must cross the Little Scarcies River
Little Scarcies River
The Little Scarcies River is a river in west Africa that begins in Guinea and flows into Sierra Leone, after which it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It is surrounded by extensive marshlands . The river is also known as the Kaba River....
by ferry. There are camping facilities there as well as some primitive huts with double beds. The vegetation is a mixture of jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
and savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
h.
Wildlife
Wildlife includes primates such as chimpanzeeChimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s, colobus monkeys and sooty mangabey
Sooty Mangabey
The sooty mangabey is an Old World monkey found in forests from Senegal east to Ghana. It is famous for being believed to be the monkey that HIV-2 might have originated in before jumping species...
s; hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
es and pygmy hippos; elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s; wart hogs; rare bongo antelope
Bongo (antelope)
The western or lowland bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species....
s and over a hundred species of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. In earlier times the Park provided habitat for the endangered Painted Hunting Dog, Lycaon pictus, which has recently disappeared from the area, as well as throughout the entirety of Sierra Leone.