Top 100 Countries by Wild Mammal Species Richness, 2025
Wild mammal species richness by country: where the world’s mammals are concentrated in 2025
In this ranking, wild mammal species richness counts how many naturally occurring mammal species are recorded within each country’s borders. A country scores higher when more distinct wild mammal species have at least part of their natural range inside that territory.
This is a measure of diversity of species, not of how many individual animals live there. A rainforest with many rare species can have higher species richness than a grassland with huge herds of a few species.
Domestic, purely introduced and farmed mammals are excluded; the focus is on wild native or long-established species.
Species are counted for every country where they occur, so global totals include the same species more than once across borders.
Data are based on recent compilations of IUCN/Red List range maps and mammal diversity databases harmonised around 2023–2024, presented here as a 2025 analytical snapshot. Figures are rounded for clarity.
Table 1. Top 10 countries by wild mammal species richness (species count)
The top of the ranking is dominated by large, tropical and sub-tropical countries with complex landscapes: humid forests, mountains, savannahs and long ecological gradients. Indonesia, Brazil and China each host more than 700 wild mammal species, reflecting both their size and habitat diversity.
| Rank | Country | Wild mammal species (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indonesia | 789 |
| 2 | Brazil | 779 |
| 3 | Congo | 739 |
| 4 | China | 722 |
| 5 | Mexico | 580 |
| 6 | Peru | 573 |
| 7 | Colombia | 531 |
| 8 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 507 |
| 9 | United States | 476 |
| 10 | Niger | 452 |
Note: species counts are approximate and harmonised across sources. Ranking refers to the number of wild mammal species recorded in each country, not to population size or conservation status.
Chart 1. Top 20 countries by wild mammal species richness (bar chart)
Extending beyond the Top 10, the bar chart highlights how species-rich countries cluster in tropical South America, Africa and Asia. Even within the Top 20, there is a steep drop from nearly 800 species in Indonesia and Brazil to around 370–400 species in countries like Cameroon and Tanzania.
Values are rounded counts of wild mammal species per country based on recent compiled datasets. Minor discrepancies with other sources are possible due to taxonomy updates and harmonisation choices.
Geographic patterns behind wild mammal species richness
Mammal diversity is far from evenly distributed. The Top 100 countries by wild mammal species richness cluster in three broad settings: the humid tropics of South America, Africa and Southeast Asia; complex mountain systems with strong elevation gradients; and some large, structurally diverse countries that span multiple climate zones.
Countries like Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia combine large areas of intact rainforest, rugged terrain and long coastlines, creating many ecological niches. In Africa, the Congo Basin, East African savannahs and highlands push countries such as the two Congos, Tanzania, Kenya and Cameroon high up the ranking. Outside the tropics, countries including the United States, Russia and Australia still host several hundred wild mammal species thanks to their size and environmental variety, even though average diversity per square kilometre is lower.
Species richness reflects a combination of evolutionary history (how long conditions have been stable in a region), climate (especially moisture and warmth), and habitat heterogeneity. Tropical, topographically complex countries with minimal past glaciation tend to pack many more mammal lineages into the same area than cold or arid regions.
Table 2. Top 100 countries by wild mammal species richness (approximate counts)
The table below lists the Top 100 countries by number of wild mammal species recorded within their borders. The ranking uses compiled 2023–2024 data harmonised for this 2025 overview; exact figures can differ slightly among primary databases as taxonomy and distribution maps are updated.
| Rank | Country | Wild mammal species (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indonesia | 789 |
| 2 | Brazil | 779 |
| 3 | Congo | 739 |
| 4 | China | 722 |
| 5 | Mexico | 580 |
| 6 | Peru | 573 |
| 7 | Colombia | 531 |
| 8 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 507 |
| 9 | United States | 476 |
| 10 | Niger | 452 |
| 11 | Ecuador | 445 |
| 12 | Sudan | 444 |
| 13 | India | 438 |
| 14 | Bolivia | 416 |
| 15 | Kenya | 410 |
| 16 | Venezuela | 409 |
| 17 | Argentina | 407 |
| 18 | Tanzania | 405 |
| 19 | Australia | 387 |
| 20 | Cameroon | 370 |
| 21 | Uganda | 367 |
| 22 | Malaysia | 358 |
| 23 | Vietnam | 357 |
| 24 | Myanmar | 354 |
| 25 | Thailand | 345 |
| 26 | Angola | 333 |
| 27 | Russia | 325 |
| 28 | South Africa | 322 |
| 29 | Ethiopia | 316 |
| 30 | Nigeria | 315 |
| 31 | Papua New Guinea | 295 |
| 32 | Ivory Coast | 278 |
| 33 | Ghana | 275 |
| 34 | Mozambique | 265 |
| 35 | Central African Republic | 261 |
| 36 | Laos | 261 |
| 37 | Zambia | 260 |
| 38 | Panama | 258 |
| 39 | Madagascar | 257 |
| 40 | Costa Rica | 256 |
| 41 | Guyana | 256 |
| 42 | Guinea | 254 |
| 43 | South Sudan | 244 |
| 44 | Guatemala | 243 |
| 45 | Honduras | 237 |
| 46 | Philippines | 236 |
| 47 | Suriname | 231 |
| 48 | Canada | 222 |
| 49 | Nicaragua | 219 |
| 50 | Namibia | 217 |
| 51 | Iran | 215 |
| 52 | Liberia | 212 |
| 53 | Zimbabwe | 212 |
| 54 | Rwanda | 211 |
| 55 | Malawi | 210 |
| 56 | Sierra Leone | 204 |
| 57 | Benin | 203 |
| 58 | Cambodia | 203 |
| 59 | Gabon | 202 |
| 60 | Pakistan | 202 |
| 61 | Togo | 201 |
| 62 | Nepal | 196 |
| 63 | Senegal | 194 |
| 64 | Equatorial Guinea | 187 |
| 65 | Somalia | 187 |
| 66 | Brunei | 183 |
| 67 | Paraguay | 180 |
| 68 | Burundi | 175 |
| 69 | Kazakhstan | 175 |
| 70 | Turkey | 173 |
| 71 | Botswana | 172 |
| 72 | Chile | 160 |
| 73 | El Salvador | 160 |
| 74 | Mali | 159 |
| 75 | Belize | 156 |
| 76 | Japan | 154 |
| 77 | Bangladesh | 152 |
| 78 | Chad | 150 |
| 79 | Mongolia | 148 |
| 80 | Guinea-Bissau | 143 |
| 81 | Bhutan | 142 |
| 82 | Burkina Faso | 140 |
| 83 | France | 139 |
| 84 | Eswatini | 138 |
| 85 | Gambia | 136 |
| 86 | Afghanistan | 135 |
| 87 | Georgia | 132 |
| 88 | Morocco | 132 |
| 89 | Spain | 130 |
| 90 | Italy | 128 |
| 91 | Uruguay | 128 |
| 92 | Eritrea | 126 |
| 93 | Trinidad and Tobago | 125 |
| 94 | Sri Lanka | 121 |
| 95 | Mauritania | 118 |
| 96 | Greece | 117 |
| 97 | Israel | 116 |
| 98 | Egypt | 114 |
| 99 | Azerbaijan | 112 |
| 100 | North Korea | 112 |
Because many species cross borders, global richness cannot be obtained by summing country totals. Rankings here are primarily comparative: they highlight where wild mammal diversity is concentrated, not how many unique species exist worldwide.
Chart 2. Wild mammal species richness vs. land area (scatter, selected countries)
The scatter plot contrasts mammal species richness with total land area (in million km²) for a group of large and/or species-rich countries. It illustrates that simply being large does not guarantee extremely high mammal diversity: tropical, topographically complex countries often host more species per unit area than very large, cold or arid states.
Areas use recent total-area estimates (million km²) from global geographic datasets, rounded to two decimals. Species counts are the same rounded values as in the tables.
How to interpret the ranking: from biodiversity hotspots to policy choices
High wild mammal species richness is not a “scorecard” of whether a country is doing well or badly. Instead, it reflects a combination of natural conditions and human pressures. Many of the countries at the very top of this ranking are both exceptionally rich in biodiversity and under strong ecological stress from land-use change, hunting, invasive species and climate impacts.
Tropical forest countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo hold a disproportionate share of global mammal diversity. They are also where deforestation, fragmentation and infrastructure expansion can rapidly push already rare species towards higher risk categories on the IUCN Red List. At the same time, these states carry much of the responsibility – and opportunity – for safeguarding irreplaceable evolutionary history.
By contrast, some very large countries – including Russia, Canada and Algeria – fall lower in the ranking than their area alone would suggest. Cold or arid climates simply support fewer mammal lineages, even though these regions may be critically important for specific species (for example, large ungulates or Arctic specialists).
- Conservation priority is about overlap: the most urgent areas are where high species richness coincides with fast habitat loss or exploitation, not simply where the most species live.
- Protected-area design should follow diversity gradients. In megadiverse countries, coverage needs to span lowland forests, mountains and transition zones rather than only iconic parks.
- Data gaps still matter. Some regions, especially in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, remain under-surveyed; future fieldwork and monitoring can still reveal new species or range extensions.
- Ecotourism potential is real but conditional. High mammal richness can support nature-based tourism, but only if development is compatible with long-term habitat integrity and community rights.
- National strategies should integrate global responsibility. Countries that host many endemic or range-restricted mammals carry a disproportionate share of global extinction risk and may need stronger international support.
For researchers and planners, this ranking is most useful as a comparative map rather than a definitive census. It helps answer questions such as “which countries combine large numbers of species with rapid land-use change?” or “where might expanding protected-area networks yield the largest biodiversity gains per hectare?”. Combining the species-richness picture with data on threatened species, endemism and ecosystem intactness allows more nuanced prioritisation.
This article provides an analytical overview based on harmonised datasets. Figures are approximate, may differ slightly from primary sources, and are intended for comparative and educational purposes only. For legal, regulatory or site-level conservation decisions, readers should consult the underlying databases and most recent country-level assessments.
Primary data sources and technical notes
Species counts and patterns discussed in this article draw on the following biodiversity and geographic datasets.
-
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – global assessments and range
maps for mammals, used as a core reference for where species occur and how they are
classified by extinction risk.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/ -
BioDB – Mammals per Country table – compiled counts of mammal
species, including threatened and endemic taxa, aggregated by country from IUCN and
related sources; used as the main numerical basis for the country ranking.
https://biodb.com/table/mammals-per-country/ -
ASM Mammal Diversity Database – up-to-date global mammal taxonomy
and country-level occurrence codings maintained by the American Society of
Mammalogists; used for cross-checking species lists and recent taxonomic changes.
https://www.mammaldiversity.org/ -
World Bank Global Biodiversity Database and related briefs – gridded
global data on species richness and species at risk, providing additional context on
spatial patterns and conservation priorities.
https://data360.worldbank.org/en/dataset/WB_GBIOD -
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) – occurrence records
from thousands of monitoring and research datasets worldwide, used to validate
presence information in poorly sampled regions.
https://www.gbif.org/ -
Global country area datasets (UN, World Bank, Worldometer) – land
and total area figures in km² used to derive the “area vs species richness” scatter
relationships.
https://www.worldometers.info/geography/largest-countries-in-the-world/
When sources disagreed slightly on species numbers or country areas, values were harmonised to preserve the relative ranking and to keep the analysis internally consistent. Future releases of this StatRanker indicator can incorporate updated taxonomy and new field data as they become available.
Download data and charts: Top 100 Countries by Wild Mammal Species Richness
This ZIP archive contains the main StatRanker table (Top 100 countries by wild mammal species richness) together with the CSV datasets and PNG charts used in the article. The files are ready for reuse in further analysis, visualisation or teaching materials.
