page_title: Fauna of Ghana
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Fauna of Ghana / Biodiversity / Flora / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: English: A Defassa waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) standing tall in Lake Nakuru National Park
context_page_description: The wildlife of Ghana is composed of its biodiversity of flora and fauna.
context_section_description: Ghana has a vast array of fauna and they are of great significance, as some of Ghana's fauna have attained conservation status because of the current rate of decline in their number and distribution. The fauna of the Ghanaian terrestrial ecosystem, comprise a diverse array of species including several of conservation concern. Ghanaian records show that there is as many as 221 species of amphibians and reptiles, 724 species of birds, 225 mammalian species inhabiting Ghana;  with 93 recorded to be inhabiting the Ghanaian savanna ecological zone. As with floral diversity, prime locations for faunal diversity is located in the Ghanaian high forest uplands; accounting for 83% of the total number of butterfly species recorded in Ghana, where canopy stratification and micro-climatic differentiation have provided habitats and niches for specific faunal organisms.
  Endemism among Ghanaian terrestrial fauna has been observed in three species of frogs; Hyperolius baumanni; Hyperolius fusciventris; and Hyperolius sylvaticus; and the lizards; and Agama sylvanus found in the Ghanaian Bia Forest Reserve and the Atwema Range Forest Reserve. Ghana has a high degree of butterfly endemism where more than 20 species are classified endemic or near-endemic. Ghana is home to 84 known amphibian species: 78 frogs, 5 toads and caecilians. Threatened species recorded in Ghana include four species of marine turtles and three species of crocodiles. Bird species of conservation concern include seven threatened species, including four species endemic to the Upper Guinea forest block and seven near-threatened species.
  Keystone species such as hornbills, parrots and birds of prey (eagles) are well represented in Ghana. Of the 728 birds species confirmed to be occurring in Ghana; 408 are non-passerines and 320 passerines, of which 498 are known or thought to be resident and 176 are regular seasonal bird migrants, including 100 from the Palaearctic ecozone. Of the total number of species occurring; 180 restricted to the Guinea-Congo forests biome and 37 restricted to the Sudan-Guinea savanna biome have been recorded in Ghana. Eleven of the 15 endemic bird species within the Upper Guinea forest occur in Ghana. Six of the total species are considered threatened and 12 are near-threatened.
  Ghana is an important country for dozens of vulnerable, threatened, endangered, critically endangered or near-extinct mammalian species including primates such as the Pan troglodytes and Procolobus kirkii; big cats such as the Panthera leo and Panthera pardus; elephants such as the Loxodonta africana; and water-birds; being located on the boundary of the east Atlantic Ocean Flyway and Mediterranean Flyway. There are also several rare terrestrial birds, such as the Yellow-Necked Picarthes.
caption: Kobus ellipsiprymnus
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