West African crocodile 2011–2015. Despite the long history of confusion, genetic testing has revealed that the two are not particularly close. The closest relatives of the Nile crocodile are the "Crocodylus" species from the Americas, while the West African crocodile is basal to the clade of Nile and American crocodiles. The West African crocodile inhabits much of West and Central Africa, ranging east to South Sudan and Uganda, and south to Democratic Republic of the Congo (in all three countries it may come into contact with Nile crocodiles). Other countries where found include Mauritania, Benin, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic,
Wildlife of the Central African Republic the Central African Republic (Central African Republic) with Chad and Sudan. Realising the serious threat to the wildlife, the colonists – French Administration – in 1935 and later the Government of the Republic of CRA, enacted laws and created National parks and preserves, which covered 16.6% of the country. The three most coveted national parks are the Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park with its reported "greatest concentrations of hippos in the world", the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park in the north; and the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve which covers rain forests. The Manovo-Gounda-Saint-Floris National Park, in particular was inscribed to the UNESCO List of