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Wildlife of Ethiopia

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File:EthiopianWolf1.jpg]]

File:Lake Chama Wildlife.jpg

The richness and variety of the wildlife of Ethiopia is dictated by the great diversity of terrain with wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlement patterns. Ethiopia contains a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) is the governing body of wildlife conservation and management.

Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country, ranging from the deserts along the eastern border to the tropical forests in the south to extensive Afromontane in the northern and southwestern parts. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has many endemic species, including 31 mammal species, notably the gelada, the walia ibex and the Ethiopian wolf ("Simien fox"). There are seven mammal species classified as "critically endangered", and others as "endangered" or "vulnerable".(IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals) The wide range of altitude has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas, and this has helped to encourage the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation. But some of these habitats are now much reduced or threatened.

The nation is a land of geographical contrasts, ranging from the vast fertile west, with its forests and numerous rivers, to the world's hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are the largest continuous mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves contains the largest cave on the continent. Ethiopia also has the second-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa.{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/&search=&searchSites=&search_by_country=&search_yearinscribed=&themes=&criteria_restrication=&media=&description=&order=region|title=UNESCO World Heritage Centre – World Heritage List |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}

Fauna

=Mammals=

{{main|List of mammals of Ethiopia}}

File:Canis simensis -Simien Mountains, Ethiopia-8.jpg]]

=Birds=

{{main|List of birds of Ethiopia}}

=Fish=

{{main|List of fish of Ethiopia}}

About 14 genera of fishes are found. These include primitive bichirs, lung fishes, catfish, cyprinids, cyprinodonts, cichlids, several caracins and a few spiny rayed families. The following fish families are most peculiar of this region:

=Butterflies=

{{main|List of butterflies of Ethiopia}}

File:Ethiopian Butterfly (2377703189).jpg at Lake Tana]]

=Molluscs=

{{main|List of non-marine molluscs of Ethiopia}}

=Reptiles=

{{Main article|Category:Reptiles of Ethiopia}}

=Threatened species=

Historically, throughout the African continent, wildlife populations have been rapidly declining owing to logging, civil wars, hunting, pollution, poaching and other human interference.{{Cite web |title=Wildlife Parks Animals Africa |url=http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/3_0wildlife.html |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=www.africanculturalcenter.org}} A 17-year-long civil war along with severe drought, negatively impacted Ethiopia's environmental conditions leading to even greater habitat degradation.Encyclopedia of Nations. Ethiopia Environment. Retrieved on 24 May 2008, from the Encyclopedia of the Nations website. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Ethiopia-ENVIRONMENT.html Habitat destruction is a factor that leads to endangerment. When changes to a habitat occur rapidly, animals do not have time to adjust. Human impact threatens many species, with greater threats expected as a result of climate change-induced by greenhouse gas emissions.Kurpis, Lauren (2002). How to Help Endangered Species. Retrieved 25 May 2008, from the Endangered Specie website. http://www.endangeredspecie.com/Ways_To_Help.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304003612/http://www.endangeredspecie.com/Ways_To_Help.htm |date=2011-03-04 }}

Ethiopia has a large number of species listed as critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable by the IUCN.{{Cite web |title=Animal Info - Ethiopia |url=http://www.animalinfo.org/country/ethiopia.htm |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=www.animalinfo.org}} To assess the current situation in Ethiopia, it is critical to identify the threatened species in this region.

class="wikitable"
Critically endangered mammals

! Endangered mammals

! colspan="3"| Vulnerable mammals

African wild dog

| African elephant

| Large-eared free-tailed bat

| Red-fronted gazelle

|

Black rhinoceros

| Ethiopian wolf

| Ammodile

| Lesser horseshoe bat

| Rupp's mouse

Guramba shrew

| Grévy's zebra

| Bailey's shrew

| Lion

| Scott's mouse-eared bat

Harenna shrew

| Giraffe

| Bale shrew

| Moorland shrew

| Soemmerring's gazelle

MacMillan's shrew

| Bushbuck

| Beira antelope

| Morris's bat

| Speke's gazelle

Somali wild ass

| Mountain nyala

| Cheetah

| Mouse-tailed bat species

| Spotted-necked otter

Tora hartebeest

| Nubian ibex

| Dibatag

| Natal free-tailed bat

| Ethiopian striped mouse

| Swayne's hartebeest

| Dorcas gazelle

| Nikolaus's mouse

| Walia ibex

|

| Glass's shrew

| Patrizi's trident leaf-nosed bat

|

There are 31 endemic species of mammals, meaning that a species occurs naturally only in a certain area, in this case Ethiopia. The African wild dog prehistorically had widespread distribution in Ethiopia; however, with last sightings at Fincha, this canid is thought to be potentially extirpated within Ethiopia. The Ethiopian wolf is perhaps the most researched of all the endangered species within Ethiopia. This, however, is likely not the case as a breeding pack has been seen, and photographed by Bale Mountain Lodge guests inside the park's Harenna Forest in 2015.

Several conservation programs are in effect to help endangered species in Ethiopia. A group was created in 1966 called The Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society, which focuses on studying and promoting the natural environments of Ethiopia along with spreading the knowledge they acquire, and supporting legislation to protect environmental resources.Humber, David (1996). Ethiopia Conservation Projects. Retrieved 24 May 2008, from the African Conservation Foundation. http://www.africanconservation.org/ethiopia1.html

There are multiple conservation organizations one can access online, one of which connects directly to the Ethiopian wolf. Funding supports the World Wildlife Fund's global conservation efforts. The WWF Chairman of the Board, Bruce Babbitt holds this organization accountable for the best practices in accountability, governance and transparency throughout all tiers within the organization.Babbit, Bruce (2008). World Wildlife Organization. Retrieved on 25 May 2008, from the WWF website. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html

Flora

There are many types of vegetation, flowers, and plants in Ethiopia. There are many cactus plants that grow in Ethiopian high lands. Ethiopia has many species of flowers that are used for medication and decoration.Bekele, Endashaw, “Study on actual situation medicinal plants in Ethiopia”, JAICAF, December, 2007 Many of the plants are used to make honey and oil. Moreover, many of the floras in Ethiopia can be used flavoring or spice. Ethiopia has different climate and geological zones that provide different types floras. There are different alpines and evergreen floras. There are some plants that Ethiopia exports to other countries like coffee and Kat which is significant to their economy.Harper, Mary”Frenetic pace of Ethiopia's khat boomtown” 28 January 2012, BBC NEWS MAGAZINE, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16756159

Notes

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References

  • {{cite web|url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/search.php?kingname=ANIMALIA&phyname=CHORDATA&claname=MAMMALIA&freetext=&modifier=phrase&criteria=wholedb&taxa_species=1&redlistCategory%5B0%5D=all&redlistAssessyear%5B0%5D=all&country%5B0%5D=ET&aquatic%5B0%5D=all®ions%5B0%5D=all&habitats%5B0%5D=all&threats%5B0%5D=all&Submit_x=34&Submit_y=9&extendedResults=0&terrestrial=0&marine=0&freshwater=0&offset=0&sortorder%5B0%5D=spcscientificname&sortorder%5B1%5D=genname&sortorder%5B2%5D=spcname&sortorder%5B3%5D=spcauthor&sortorder%5B4%5D=spcinfrarank&sortorder%5B5%5D=spcinfraepithet&sortorder%5B6%5D=spcinfrarankauthor&sortorder%5B7%5D=spcstockname&sortorder%5B8%5D=comname_comp&sortorder%5B9%5D=rlcabb&sortorder%5B10%5D=rlscriteria&sortorder%5B11%5D=poptrend_code&sortorder%5B12%5D=rlcatcrit2001&sortorder%5B13%5D=spcrecid&sortorder%5B14%5D=kingname&debug=0&taxa_subspc=0&taxa_stock=0&newsort=Genus |title=The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Mammals of Ethiopia |publisher=IUCN |year=2001 |access-date=22 May 2007 }}
  • {{cite web

|url=http://nmnhgoph.si.edu/msw/

|title=Mammal Species of the World

|publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

|year=2005

|access-date = 22 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070427043030/http://nmnhgoph.si.edu/msw/ |archive-date = 27 April 2007}}

  • {{cite web

|url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html

|title=Animal Diversity Web

|publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

|date=1995–2006

|access-date = 22 May 2007}}

  • {{cite web

|url=http://chora.virtualave.net/biodiversity.htm

|title=Ethiopia's Biodiversity

|publisher=CHORA, INC. Ethiopian Center For Educational Information

|access-date= 27 February 2011}}

External links

{{WildlifeofAfrica}}

Category:Biota of Ethiopia

Ethiopia