Mandrill
© WCS
Elephant
© Rainforest Action Network
 
The Rain Forest
Rain forests in particular contain a disproportionate number of species on Earth. Most of Gabon is covered with dense equatorial rain forest, home to several endangered species. These include the African pygmy squirrel, the African slender-snouted crocodile, the African wild dog, the black colobus (a dark-haired monkey), the chimpanzee, the Congo clawless otter, the drill, the gorilla, the grey-necked rockfowl, the mandrill and the West African manatee, an aquatic mammal. There are also many other species in the Gabonese rain forest - elephants, bushpigs, antelopes, buffaloes, hippopotamuses and a wide assortment of tropical birds, to name a few.

Gabon is also home to more than 8,000 species of vegetation including okumé (Gabon mahogony), Gabon black ebony and the Gabon chocolate tree, whose nut is used for food and oil.

Tall grasses are home to different species of antelopes--Situtunga, Bongo, Hyémosque, Guib and the sleeping antelope--and other big game: buffalo, reputed to be the most dangerous animal in the forest; elephants, (smaller than those found in savannahs); and finally near the rivers, the hippopotamus.

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