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Animals in Nigeria

37 mammal species are recorded in Nigeria in this dataset, 11 of them in a threatened Red List category. Nigeria sits in Africa, where 267 species are recorded in total. Every species below is listed because the range description of its IUCN Red List assessment names Nigeria.

They belong to 14 families, the best represented being Cercopithecidae (8), Bovidae (6), Soricidae (4). By Red List category: 1 Critically Endangered, 8 Endangered, 2 Vulnerable, 8 Near Threatened, 15 Least Concern, 3 Data Deficient.

These counts come from the text of each assessment rather than from an official country checklist, so a species whose assessment names a region without naming Nigeria is missing here, and a wide-ranging animal is counted in every country it crosses. All 37 of them have a full written profile.

Species recorded
37
Threatened
11
Continent
Africa
Data updated
August 9, 2026

Conservation status in Nigeria

The most threatened species in Nigeria

8 of the 11 species recorded here that the IUCN Red List places in a threatened category — Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered.

The families found in Nigeria

  • Cercopithecidae 8
  • Bovidae 6
  • Soricidae 4
  • Anomaluridae 3
  • Molossidae 3
  • Hominidae 2
  • Manidae 2
  • Muridae 2

Every species recorded in Nigeria

All 37 of them, written profiles first.

Where to go from Nigeria

The countries in Africa that share the most species with Nigeria, by number of species recorded in both.

Species data from the IUCN Red List; countries are derived from the range description of each assessment. Last refreshed on August 9, 2026.