Benin - Flora and fauna

Apart from small isolated patches, little true forest remains. The coconut plantations of the coastal strip give way to oil palms and ronier palms growing as far north as Abomey; these are in turn succeeded by savanna woodland, in which the vegetation of the Guinea forest and the vegetation of the southern Sudan are intermingled, and then by characteristic Sudanic savanna. Trees include coconut, oil palm, ronier palm, ebony, shea nut, kapok, fromager, and Senegal mahogany. Among the mammals in Benin are the elephant, lion, panther, monkey, and wild pig, as well as many kinds of antelope. Crocodiles and many species of snakes (including python, puff adder, and mamba) are widely distributed. Partridge, guinea fowl, and wild duck, as well as many kinds of tropical birds, are common. Insects include varieties of tsetse fly and other vectors of epidemic disease.