Sierra Leone - Flora and fauna



About 25–35% of the land area, mostly in the north, consists of savanna or grasslands; 20–25%, mostly in the south-center, is low bush; another 20–25%, in the southeast, is secondary forest or high bush; 10–20% is swampland; and 3–5% is primary rain forest.

The emerald cuckoo, which has been described as the most beautiful bird in Africa, is found in Sierra Leone, although it has disappeared from the rest of West Africa. Other species include the Senegal firefinch, common bulbul, little African swift, Didric cuckoo, bronze manakin, cattle egret (or "tickbird"), and many birds that breed in Europe but winter in Sierra Leone. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are indigenous to the river regions of the coastal plain.

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