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Wildlife of Mozambique

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Blue wildebeest

The wildlife of Mozambique consists of the flora and fauna of this country in southeastern Africa. Mozambique has a range of different habitat types and an ecologically rich and diverse wildlife. This includes 236 species of mammal, 740 species of bird and 5,692 species of vascular plant. The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot, with significantly high levels of biodiversity, stretches from the southern tip of Mozambique into northeastern South Africa.

Geography

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Topography of Mozambique

Mozambique is located on the southeast coast of Africa. It is bounded by Eswatini to the south, South Africa to the south and southwest, Zimbabwe to the west, Zambia and Malawi to the northwest, Tanzania to the north and the Indian Ocean to the east. Mozambique lies between latitudes 10° and 27°S, and longitudes 30° and 41°E.[1]

The country is divided into two topographical regions by the Zambezi River. To the north of the Zambezi, the narrow coastal strip gives way to inland hills and low plateaus. Rugged highlands are further west; they include the Niassa highlands, Namuli or Shire highlands, Angonia highlands, Tete highlands and the Makonde plateau, covered with miombo woodlands. To the south of the Zambezi River, the lowlands are broader with the Mashonaland plateau and Lebombo Mountains located in the deep south. The country is drained by five principal rivers and several smaller ones with the largest and most important being the Zambezi. There are four large lakes, all in the north of the country; Lake Niassa (or Malawi), Lake Chiuta, Lake Cahora Bassa and Lake Shirwa.[1]

Mozambique has a tropical climate with a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September. Climatic conditions, however, vary depending on altitude. Rainfall is heavy along the coast and decreases in the north and south of the country. Annual rainfall varies from 500 to 900 mm (20 to 35 in) depending on the region, with an average of 590 mm (23 in). Average temperature ranges in Maputo are from 13 to 24 °C (55 to 75 °F) in July and from 22 to 31 °C (72 to 88 °F) in February. Much of the inland part of southern Mozambique is semi-desert.[2]

Flora

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Humid forest, near Pemba in Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique.

A total of 5,692 species of vascular plant has been recorded in the country, of which 145 species are considered to be threatened.[3] Most of the terrain of Mozambique is covered by wooded savanna, grassland with a scattering of trees but an open canopy. In the northern part of the country this is miombo woodland, dominated by Brachystegia trees, covering about 70% of the country. In drier areas further south, mopane woodland predominates, with Acacia woodland in some areas in the south and in riverside locations in the north. Forest cover is mostly limited to the upper mountain slopes and some gallery forests, with some patches of dry lowland forests occurring in certain coastal areas, notably near Cape Delgado and around Dondo.[4] The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot in southern Mozambique and northeastern South Africa, is a biogeographic region with significantly high levels of biodiversity and plant endemism.[5]

The scenery on many parts of the coast consists of thickets, scrubland and palm groves. The floodplains of the main rivers consist of alluvial grassland and marshes. The Zambezi Delta is a vast marshy area covering 8,000 km2 (3,000 sq mi) with grasses and Borassus palms, extending for 120 km (75 mi) along the coast.[4] A fringe of mangroves can be found along much of the coast, the trees growing to a height of 10 m (30 ft), and there are extensive areas of mangroves in the Zambezi and Messalo River deltas where the height of the trees can reach 25 to 30 m (80 to 100 ft). Ten different species of mangrove have been recorded here, including Lumnitzera racemosa and Xylocarpus granatum.[6]

Fauna

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Main articles: List of mammals of Mozambique, List of birds of Mozambique, List of non-marine molluscs of Mozambique, and List of marine molluscs of Mozambique

Some 236 species of mammal have been recorded in Mozambique, of which 17 species are considered threatened.[7] Ungulates found here include the common warthog, the hippopotamus and the South African giraffe and around twenty species of antelope including the common eland, the Lichtenstein's hartebeest, the greater kudu, the sable antelope, the nyala, the waterbuck, the blue wildebeest and the Cape bushbuck.[4] There are around fifty species of rodent, a dozen of shrew, over sixty species of bat and a single hedgehog, the four-toed hedgehog. Primates are represented by bushbabies, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, chacma baboons and yellow baboons. There are African bush elephants, lions, leopards, Southeast African cheetahs, genets, mongooses, hyaenas, jackals and various other species of carnivore.[4][8]

Pale batis, a resident of miombo woodland

Large numbers of birds are either resident in or migrate across Mozambique, 768 species having been recorded, including 34 globally threatened species.[9] Some notable examples include the lesser jacana, the crab-plover, the mangrove kingfisher, the Böhm's bee-eater, the racket-tailed roller, the African pitta, the green-headed oriole, the collared palm thrush, the pale batis, the lowland tiny greenbul, the lesser seedcracker and the locust finch.[10]

There is also a rich fauna of reptiles and amphibians, with 225 species of reptile recorded in the country (as compiled by the Reptile Database),[11] and 90 species of amphibian (compiled by AmphibiaWeb).[12] There are numerous species of snake, with venomous species including the puff adder, several species of cobra, the black mamba and the boomslang. Non-venomous snakes include the mole snake, and the egg-eating snake. The Nile crocodile is only likely to be found in protected areas. The savannah monitor is the largest lizard in the country, but more common are the much smaller skinks, agamas, chamaeleons and house geckos. The leopard tortoise occurs here as well as three species of freshwater terrapin.[4]

With a long coastline, Mozambique boasts numerous marine vertebrates, including about twenty species of whale and ten of dolphin, the dugong, the brown fur seal and the southern elephant seal.[8] The country has a large number of marine mollusc species, as well as plentiful numbers of terrestrial snails and slugs.[13]

Protected areas

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Main article: Protected areas of Mozambique

Mozambique has seven national parks, two of which are largely marine, and six national reserves. Additionally, there are several other protected areas, three community wildlife utilisation areas, various wildlife utilisation areas and forest reserves. In reality, many of these have little protection and many animals were severely depleted as a result of the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992) and the increase in poaching which took place at that time. More recently, efforts are being made to restock some of the protected areas with animals brought in from elsewhere, and facilities for visitors have improved, particularly at Gorongosa National Park.[4]

National parks

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National parks in Mozambique include:[14]

National reserves

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National reserves in Mozambique include:[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b Philip's (1994). Atlas of the World. Reed International. pp. 105–107. ISBN 0-540-05831-9.
  2. ^ "Climate: Mozambique". Climates to Travel. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  3. ^ Butler, Rhett A. (1 July 2019). "Total number of plant species by country". Mongabay. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Briggs, Philip; Connolly, Sean (2014). Mozambique. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 27–32. ISBN 978-1-84162-496-9.
  5. ^ "Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany". Biodiversity hotspots. Conservation International. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  6. ^ The World's Mangroves, 1980-2005: A Thematic Study in the Framework of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2007. pp. 15–17. ISBN 978-92-5-105856-5.
  7. ^ Butler, Rhett A. (1 July 2019). "Total number of mammal species by country". Mongabay. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  8. ^ a b This information is derived from the IUCN Red List which lists species of mammals and their distributions.
  9. ^ Lepage, Denis (2019). "Mozambique". Avibase: Bird Checklists of the World. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  10. ^ Wheatley, Nigel (2014). Where to Watch Birds in Africa. Princeton University Press. pp. 253–254. ISBN 978-1-4008-6428-7.
  11. ^ Butler, Rhett A. (1 July 2019). "Total number of reptile species, by country". Mongabay. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  12. ^ Butler, Rhett A. (1 July 2019). "Total number of amphibian species, by country". Mongabay. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  13. ^ Muratov I. V. (2010). "Terrestrial molluscs of Cabo Delgado and adjacent inland areas of north-eastern Mozambique". African Invertebrates 51 (2): 255-288. abstract.
  14. ^ a b Sawe, Benjamin Elisha (25 April 2017). "National Parks and Reserves in Mozambique". World Atlas. Worldatlas.com. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Parque Nacional de Banhine". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  16. ^ "The Bazaruto National Park". Mozambique Ministry of Tourism. Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
  17. ^ Parque Nacional da Gorongosa
  18. ^ Parque Nacional do Limpopo Archived 2009-05-20 at the Portuguese Web Archive
  19. ^ Jackson, Jinty (20 October 2013). "Amid the coal mines, Mozambique stakes out game park". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique". WWF. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  21. ^ "Parque Nacional do Zinave". Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  22. ^ "Reserva Nacional do Chimanimani". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  23. ^ "Reserva Especial de Maputo". Archived from the original on 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  24. ^ Reserva Nacional do Niassa
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