São Tomé & Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe is an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, located off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It is made up of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, located about 150 km apart and about 250 km and 225 km off the north-west coast of Gabon. The oceanic islands have always been isolated from the West African mainland, so there is relatively low species diversity, limited to those that have managed to cross the sea to the islands. But endemism is high, with many species not found anywhere else in the world. Mammal diversity is low, and only one endemic land mammal, the São Tomé Shrew, lives here. There are also several bats, among them the newly recorded São Tomé Free-Tailed Bat. A variety of cetaceans, like the Humpback Whale, are found in the open sea. Several species have been introduced by humans, such as the Mona Monkey, rats and feral pigs. The islands have at least 114 bird species and around 26 endemic species. At least three of them have no close relatives and are classified in their own genera: the São Tomé Short-Tail, São Tomé Grosbeak and Dohrn's Thrush-Babbler. Birds of the islands include the world's largest sunbird, the Giant Sunbird, and the smallest ibis, the Dwarf Olive Ibis. Some of the smaller islets are home to large colonies of seabirds. Sadly, many of the country's birds are threatened with extinction, and three, the Dwarf Olive Ibis, the São Tomé Fiscal and the São Tomé Grosbeak, are critically endangered.