Taï National Park

Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Taï National Park


State Party = CIV
Type = Natural
Criteria = vii, x
ID = 195
Region = Africa
Year = 1982
Session = 6th
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/195

Infobox_protected_area | name = Taï National Park
iucn_category = II


caption =
locator_x =
locator_y =
location = Côte d'Ivoire
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 5
lat_minutes = 45
lat_seconds = 0
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 7
long_minutes = 07
long_seconds = 0
long_direction = W
area = 3300 km²
established = August 28, 1972
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body =

Taï National Park (Parc National de Taï) is a national park in Côte d'Ivoire containing one of the last areas of primary rainforest in West Africa. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982 due to the breadth of its flora and fauna - in particular endangered species such as the pygmy hippopotamus, chimpanzees, and monkeys.

Taï National Park is approximately 100 km from the Ivoirian coast on the border with Liberia between the Cavally and Sassandra Rivers. It covers an area of 3,300 km² with a 200 km² buffer zone up to 396 m.

The Tai Forest reserve was created in 1926 and promoted to National Park status in 1972. It was recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and added to the list of Natural World Heritage Sites in 1982. [cite news |last=Djangrang |first=Nimrod Bena |title=Tai National Park - Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa - Column |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1996_Dec/ai_19090936 |work=UNESCO Courier |date=December 1996 |accessdate=2008-02-26]

Five mammal species of the Taï National Park are on the red list: Pygmy Hippopotamus, Olive Colobus monkeys, Leopards, Chimpanzees and Jentink's Duiker. [cite book |last=McGraw |first=William Scott |coauthors=Klaus Zuberbühler, Ronald Noë |title=Monkeys of the Tai Forest: An African Primate Community |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521816335 |pages=pp. 14-16] [cite web |url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/10032/summ |title =Hexaprotodon liberiensis - Endangered |work=IUCN Red List of Endangered Species |accessdate=2008-03-14] [cite web |url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/15933/summ |title=Pan troglodytes – Endangered |work=IUCN Red List of Endangered Species |accessdate=2008-03-14] [cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/195.pdf |title=Advisory Body Evaluation |publisher=UNESCO |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-03-14]

The Tai Forest is a natural reservoir of the Ebola virus. The World Health Organization has expressed concern over the proximity of an International Airport at Abidjan. [cite news |last=French |first=Howard W. |title=Hunt for the Creature That Ebola Calls Home |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E3D7153DF937A15752C1A960958260 |work=The New York Times |date=November 24 1996 |accessdate=2008-03-14]

ee also

* Western Guinean lowland forests

References

External links

* [http://www.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/wh/tai.html World Heritage Site Data Sheet]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/195 Official UNESCO website entry]