Abuko Nature Reserve, Nature reserve in West Coast Division, The Gambia

Abuko Nature Reserve is a protected woodland area in West Coast Division containing tropical forest, savanna, and pools linked by the Lamin Stream. The site features several observation points and walking paths for wildlife viewing.

The Lamin Stream was fenced in 1916 as a water collection point, which thickened the gallery forest and increased wildlife. In 1967 wildlife officer Eddie Brewer and his daughter Stella Marsden assessed the area after a big cat was seen hunting there; Brewer, later conservation director, urged protection. The government designated the reserve in March 1968, and it grew from 73 to 102 hectares in 1978 with WWF support.

The reserve's name comes from the village of Abuko, and its pool is called Bambo Pool, from the Mandinka word for crocodile. The Mandinka name kaba refers to the Saba senegalensis vine, whose edible fruit grows over dead trees in the forest. A small natural-history display stands in the Darwin Field Station, about 300 metres from the entrance.

The reserve is located near coastal areas and is easily accessible with designated observation points and walking paths. Visitors are advised to arrive in the morning when birds and primates are most active.

At one end of the reserve stand several enclosures used as an orphanage for needy animals, among them one holding a pack of spotted hyenas that compete with vultures for meat at feeding time. A separate enclosure keeps lions, which no longer occur in the wild in The Gambia. Chimpanzees once raised here were released on Baboon Island.