Travel Guide Parc National Du W

The W Regional Park, named after the winding shape of the Niger River in northern Benin, is a transboundary park of 1,000,000 ha spread over Benin (577,000 ha), Burkina Faso and Niger. In fact, its creation goes back a long way, since the French colonial administration had created a wildlife reserve there as early as 1954. At that time, there were no borders; it was French West Africa. The W Regional Park went through many ups and downs until, in 2000, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger decided to manage the reserve together. However, the park has had a somewhat chequered history and, having long been strongly discouraged, was now closed until further notice when we visited in the spring of 2022. After being taken over by African Parks, which also manages the Pendjari Park, the South African NGO and the entire country experienced a tragedy on February 8, 2022, when two patrol vehicles were blown up by mines laid by terrorists. Eight people were killed in the explosion, including five park rangers, a park manager, a 50-year-old French police officer and a soldier. Ten people were injured. It will therefore be necessary to wait before hoping to be able to return there. Once reopened, the park should still offer the opportunity to see hartebeest, buffalo, warthogs... Lions, cheetahs and leopards have also been seen, not far from Koudou