Taï, Parc National De

Parc National de Taï, national park, southwestern Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), situated between the Liberian border (along the Cavally River) to the west and the Sassandra River to the east. Formerly a fauna reserve (decreed 1956) and prior to that a forest refuge (from 1926), it was established as a national park in 1972 and has an area of 1,351 sq mi (3,500 sq km). Its physiography consists mainly of plains that overlie granitic rock and rise to Mont Niéndkoué (2,044 ft [623 m]) in the south. The park is noted for its lowland rain forest vegetation that includes several species of ebony and palm. Wildlife includes the rare pygmy hippopotamus, elephant, buffalo, pangolin, bushbuck, monkeys, panther, chimpanzee, and zebra. The park is subject to poaching along its boundaries and to timber removal, especially in the north. Noted for being one of the few significant areas that remain of West Africa’s primary tropical forest, the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982.