  We consider supersymmetric scenarios, compatible with all cosmological and
phenomenological requirements, where the lightest SUSY particles (LSPs) are the
neutralino and a quasi degenerate gluino. We study the neutralino relic
abundance, focusing on gluino (co-)annihilation effects. In case the neutralino
is bino-like, in a wide mass window the relic abundance is naturally driven in
the correct range for the LSP to be the main cold dark matter constituent. We
show that the gluino is the strongest possible coannihilating partner of a
bino-like neutralino in the general MSSM. Moreover, contrary to other
coannihilation scenarios, gluino pair annihilations always dominate over
coannihilation processes, even at relatively large gluino-neutralino mass
splittings. Finally, we present prospects for neutralino dark matter detection
in the outlined framework.
