Wildlife of Mali

The wildlife of Mali, composed of its flora and fauna, is widely varying from the Saharan desert zone (covering about 33% of the country) to the Sahelian east–west zone, to Mali, a landlocked francophone country in North Africa; large swathes of Mali remain unpopulated but has three sub-equal vegetation zones; the country has Sahara Desert in the north, the Niger River Basin at its center and the Senegal River on the south.^[1]

The vegetation zones are the Saharan, the Sahel, and the Sudan–Guinea Savanna. Mali has many protected areas which include two national parks, one biosphere reserve, six faunal reserves, two partial faunal reserves, two sanctuaries (one is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site), one chimp sanctuary, six game reserves,^[2] and three Ramsar Sites.^[3][4]

Protected area in Mali, under legal acts and regulations (Law No. 86-43/AN-RM for trade and conservation of parks and reserves and Law No. 86-42/AN-RM for forest code), cover about 5,760.035 square kilometres (2,223.962 sq mi), which is 4.7% area of the country. Adding the buffer zone and the peripheral zone of the Biosphere of Baoul, it becomes 6.2% of the total area of the country.^[2][5] The rich biodiversity of the country is reflected in its more than 1,700 plant species and about 1,000 animal species.^[1]