The forested highlands in the border region between Cameroon and Nigeria, stretching over to Mt Cameroon, support an impressive small mammal fauna of 97 species, the third highest of the SMSG’s Key Regions. With lots of murid rodents and shrews from the Crocidura genus, it is also home to the highest number of the striking anomalures or scaly-tailed squirrels (Anomaluridae, 6 species) across all the Key Regions. In terms of threatened species richness, with 22 species the Cameroon highland forests is second only to the Mexican dry forests within the SMSG’s Key Regions. It has the highest number of globally threatened shrews with 9 species. It also home to an impressive 7 AZE-trigger small mammals: the Mt Oku Hylomyscus (Hylomyscus grandis), Mount Oku Rat (Lamottemys okuensis) Mount Oku Brush-furred Rat (Lophuromys dieterleni) of Mount Oku; Eisentraut's Brush-furred Rat (Lophuromys eisentrauti) of Mount Lefo; Rumpi Mouse Shrew (Myosorex rumpii) from Mount Rata and Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve; and the Mt. Cameroon Forest Shrew (Sylvisorex morio) Burton’s Vlei Rat (Otomys burtoni) from Mount Cameroon and Mokoko-Onge.

Habitat loss and degradation driven by agricultural encroachment, firewood exploitation and over-grazing is the main threat to the small mammals of this region. With a high human population density in this area and very little forest under formal protection, this threat is severe.

The habitat of small mammals within this region flags as being disproportionately under-protected. With the support of a number of conservation NGOs, Cameroon is starting to establish a national protected area network. This includes new national parks and the creation of a number of community managed reserves in the most important forest and mountain areas.

Our knowledge of this small mammal fauna is very limited, and fieldwork is desperately needed to understand the ecology of these species. Three Data Deficient species occur in this Key Region.