West African shaggy rat grass tussock. It feeds on grasses, leaves and other plant material. Its breeding habits are unknown. West African shaggy rat The West African shaggy rat ("Dasymys rufulus") is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and swamps. It is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern". The West African shaggy rat is
Wildlife of the Gambia large green stretches with profusion of tree species, particularly the mango "(Mangifera indica)" trees. Law of the land Some parts of the land area of the Gambia, under the protection laws of the Banjul Declaration of 1977, which is the law on wild life, includes seven protected zones of the country. The law prohibits all types of hunting, except on animals harmful to the environment, such as warthog, giant pouched rat and francolin. Also, as a signatory to the International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), the Gambia enforces law prohibiting export or even possession within the