Having just got back from a birding holiday in The Gambia I thought I would start a thread on conservation issues I saw while there. We only stayed a week, based at Mandina Lodge situated in the mangroves at the mouth of the Gambia river. We went out mostly to various parts of the mangroves, with afew trips further afield. As it was at the very end of the dry season temperatures were very high - mostly 35-40 degrees and only slightly cooler at night. Back of the mangroves near the lodge was what was described as a "community forest" which is basically heavily human modified wooded savannah including plantations of cashew nuts and mangoes. The forest is used as pasture for cattle during the dry season. We saw no large wild mammals, but Vervet monkeys were frequent even in the lodge grounds. There is a also alarge troop of Guinea Baboons which use the area and which we encountered on several occaisions. We saw Patas monkey in the forest twice, but they seem very rare and shy. On a trip to another forest with more tall trees we also sighted Red Colobus but they seem to be declining, probably as a result of deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Bird life was numerous and we saw over 160 species in various habitats during the week, but I wonder how much removal of large trees and elimination of browsing by megafauna will have impacted the habitats we entered. In the past the woodlands would have held the usual large mammals of West Africa - Black Rhinoceros, Giant Eland, Giraffe, Bush Elephant and the associated predators such as lions, hyaenas and jackals. Even the jackals have been eliminated as they preyed on livestock. We saw a few West African Crocodiles C.suchus, which also live in the mangroves but are very shy. Does anyone who has vicited the country have observations to add?
