Our exploration of the West African country of Ghana is nearing an end. We’ve seen an incredible array of wildlife from picathartes to pangolins but there were still targets on our wish list. Monkeys in Kakum National Park had been extremely wary and secretive so we took a detour to visit the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. Not only are monkeys protected here they are considered to be sacred by the locals. This is a long-standing tradition going back to 1827. The monkeys are so revered that they are buried in coffins. Two species of monkey are afforded this extraordinary status, Lowe’s Monkey and White-thighed Colobus. We were greeted by friendly Lowe’s Monkeys (Ceropithecus lowei) looking for a handout. Not only are they protected, but they are also fed. Maybe not the best practice but it was great to see these primates at close range with no fear of humans.
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| Lowe’s Monkey |
The White-thighed Colobus (Colobus vellerosus) were further inside the forest. They too showed no fear of humans and were lounging about in the trees. This has to be the best place to see these critically endangered monkeys with less than 1500 individuals remaining. Little did the ancestors of the people of Boabeng-Fiema know that hundreds of years later they would be protecting an endangered species.
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| White-thighed Colobus |
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| White-thighed Colobus |
We continued our drive to the Bobiri Guesthouse and Butterfly Sanctuary, our destination for the night. The sanctuary protects 54 square kilometers of tropical forest with some impressive trees like this African Whitewood (Triplochiton sceroxylon). The timber is used for veneer, furniture, molding, and guitars.
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| African Whitewood |
The following morning we took a walk along the road. Mammal activity was light but we saw some nice birds like this Narina Trogon and butterflies.
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| Narina Trogon |
Bobiri is the only butterfly sanctuary in West Africa and harbors over 400 species of butterflies. The small sample we encountered give us an appreciation for the diversity of species found here. One of our favorites was this beautiful Citrus Swallowtail.
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| Citrus Swallowtail |
We left the reserve after breakfast and continued our drive south toward the Atewa Range Forest Reserve. We were hoping to get an afternoon walk in but thunderstorms nixed our plan. We returned early the following day to search for a Blue-moustached Bee-eater, yes a bird, not a mammal. I was hoping to see mammals on our way to the top of the ridge but other than a Red-legged Sun Squirrel we saw none. We did find a bee-eater about halfway up. They are stunning birds with a blue head and belly, a red throat, and a chestnut back. Marc was able to photograph one in the process of capturing one of its favorite prey items, a moth.
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| Blue-mustached Bee-eater |
We decided to continue to the top of the ridge to get a view overlooking the upland evergreen forest, rare for Ghana. After our hike, we resumed our drive to Accra, our trip was coming to an end. Since our flight was not leaving until late the following day, we decided to squeeze in a visit to Shai Hills Resource Reserve. A primate, Tantalus Monkey (Chlorocebus tantalus), new to the trip lives here. They had little fear of us and we got good views and photos as they crossed the road.
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| Tantalus Monkey |
Surprisingly, there was a small herd of Plains Zebra in an enclosure. It’s not clear if zebra ever inhabited Ghana but the government decided to introduce them from South Africa. Eventually, they will be set free to roam the reserve.
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| Plains Zebra |
Buffon’s Kob inhabit the savanna but they were far from the road and difficult to see in the tall grass. We did a short hike to a cave to see the Egyptian Tomb Bats that roost there. There were the last mammal that we would see on our Ghana Tour topping our list at 41 species (see below)!
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| Egyptian Tomb Bat |
We returned to Accra to prepare for our flight home. Although delayed by three years, we were happy to finally have made it to this tiny West African country. A big thank you to Ashanti African Tours, Rosematilda in particular, for their patience and help in setting up this trip after two failed attempts due to Covid. We are also grateful to our guides Jackson and Philip for all their hard work in finding us so many animals and birds. Of course, the highlight was seeing the Black-bellied Pangolin but the Picathartes nesting site was a close second. Finally, we’d like to thank our drivers Johnson and Richard for getting us safely from one destination to the next. We trust that the people of Ghana will continue to protect their rich natural diversity for generations to come.
We hope all is well with everyone.
Peggy and Marc
Our Route Map:
Ghana Mammal List: February 23 to March 11, 2023
| No. | Species | Scientific Name | Comments |
| 1 | Western Tree Hyrax | Dendrohyrax dorsalis | heard only |
| 2 | African Elephant | Loxodonta africana x cyclotis | Mole NP |
| 3 | West African Potto | Perodicticus potto | Ankasa & Kankum |
| 4 | Demidoff’s Galago | Galagoides demidoff | Ankasa, Kankum & Bonkro |
| 5 | Northern Lesser Galago | Galago senegalensis | Mole NP |
| 6 | Patas Monkey | Erythrocebus patas | Mole NP |
| 7 | Green Monkey | Chlorocebus sabaeus | Mole NP |
| 8 | Tantalus Monkey | Chlorocebus tantalus | Shai Hills |
| 9 | Lowe’s Monkey | Cercopithecus lowei | Kakum & Boabeng Fiema |
| 10 | Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey | Cercopithecus petaurista | Kakum |
| 11 | Olive Baboon | Papio anubis | Kakum & Shai Hills |
| 12 | Olive Colobus | Procolobus verus | Kakum |
| 13 | White-thighed Colobus | Colobus vellerosus | Boabeng Fiema |
| 14 | Greater Cane Rat | Thryonomys swinderianus | Kankum, only Marc & Philip |
| 15 | Beecroft’s Anomalure | Anomalurus beecrofti | Ankasa |
| 16 | Pel’s Anomalure | Anomalurus pelii | Kankum |
| 17 | Striped Ground Squirrel | Xerus erythropus | Mole NP |
| 18 | Fire-footed Rope Squirrel | Funisciurus pyrropus | Ankasa, Kankum & Bobiri |
| 19 | Small Sun Squirrel | Heliosciurus punctatus | Ankasa & Kankum |
| 20 | Red-legged Sun Squirrel | Heliosciurus rufobrachium | Ankasa, Kankum & Atewa |
| 21 | Green Bush Squirrel | Paraxerus poensis | Ankasa & Kankum |
| 22 | Slender-tailed Squirrel | Protoxerus aubinnii | Ankasa |
| 23 | Forest Giant Squirrel | Protoxerus stangeri | Ankasa & Kankum |
| 24 | Emin’s Pouched Rat | Cricetomys emini | Kankum |
| 25 | African Savanna Hare | Lepus victoriae | Mole NP |
| 26 | Straw-colored Fruit Bat | Eidolon helvum | Bonkro |
| 27 | Hammer-headed Fruit Bat | Hypsignathus monstrosus | Ankasa |
| 28 | Egyptian Tomb Bat | Taphozous perforatus | Shai Hills |
| 29 | Black-bellied Pangolin | Phataginus tetradactyla | Bonkro |
| 30 | Pardine Genet | Genetta pardina | Mole NP |
| 31 | White-tailed Mongoose | Ichneumia albicauda | Mole NP |
| 32 | Gambian Mongoose | Mungos gambianus | Mole NP |
| 33 | Common Warthog | Phacochoerus africanus | Mole NP |
| 34 | Western Hartebeest | Alcelaphus buselaphus ssp. major | Mole NP |
| 35 | Sudanese Buffalo | Syncerus caffer ssp. brachyceros | Mole NP |
| 36 | Bushbuck | Tragelaphus scriptus | Mole NP |
| 37 | Red-flanked Duiker | Cephalophus rufilatus | Mole NP |
| 38 | Western Roan Antelope | Hippotragus equinus ssp. koba | Mole NP |
| 39 | Defassa Waterbuck | Kobus ellipsiprymnus ssp. defassa | Mole NP |
| 40 | Buffon’s Kob | Kobus kob ssp. kob | Mole & Shai Hills |
| 41 | Plains Zebra | Equus quagga | Introduced in Shai Hills |
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