West African shaggy rat long as the head-and-body length; it is ringed by small scales and clad with sparse short bristles. The head-and-body length of this rat averages and the weight averages . The West African shaggy rat is native to tropical West Africa; its rangeincludes Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. It inhabits wetlands and swampy areas, streams, riverbanks, lakesides, young oil-palm plantations and rice fields. The West African shaggy rat is a terrestrial species. It is nocturnal and a good swimmer. It lives in a shallow burrow, the entrance often hidden under a
The Gambia at the Olympics The Gambia at the Olympics The Gambia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games held since 1984, although the country has never won an Olympic medal. The Gambia is yet to compete at the Winter Olympic Games. The Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) was formed in 1972 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1976. The country boycotted the first two games for which it was eligible (1976 and 1980). Its first delegation consisted of ten athletes, all of whom were runners. Subsequent delegations have included wrestlers (in 1988), a long jumper (1996), a boxer (2008), a