Arabuko-sokoke forest, Kenya Photograph by Judy Oglethorpe   Eastern Africa: Coastal areas of Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   43,200 square miles (111,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of Louisiana Critical/Endangered

· A Forest Tapestry
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Forest Tapestry

If you were to fly in an airplane over this ecoregion, you would see many small forest patches beneath you, with stretches of barren soil and grassland in between. These forests are called tropical dry forests because they typically lose their leaves for part of the year, during periods of low rainfall. This ecoregion, as its name says, is a mosaic of forest types--and includes elements of moist forests and montane forests, as well as grasslands, dry forests, and shrublands. Peering through your plane window, you might catch a glimpse of some monkeys swinging through the trees or an aardvark rooting in the soil for ants. The ecoregion includes the large offshore islands of Pemba, Zanzibar, and Mafia, as well as other smaller islets in the Indian Ocean close along the coast.

Special Features

Depending on when you visit this ecoregion, the land might be scorched and dry, or it might be flooded with water. Temperatures are usually warm and tropical all year long, but rainfall varies greatly. In some areas it won’t rain at all for more than a year, causing severe droughts. At other times, repeated steady downpours cause heavy flooding. As a result of these drastic climate differences, plants and animals have adapted in unusual ways. This ecoregion hosts many endemic species, including Amani’s screeching frog, Pemba sunbird, east coast akalat, a tree hyrax, and the Pemba fruit bat.

	Duikers are such shy creatures that they dive into forest cover at the first sign of danger. In fact, the word "duiker" means "diver" in the Afrikaans language.

Wild Side

The forest floors of this ecoregion are host to many invertebrates, including several species of ants, termites, and beetles. These creatures provide tasty treats for the spotted ground-thrush and the red-tailed ant-thrush. Aardvarks also feast on the ants and termites, as do endemic golden-rumped elephant shrews, which use their long, flexible snouts to forage. Antelopes such as bushbacks and endemic Ader’s duikers graze the forest floors, ever watchful for hunting caracals--large cats with tall, black-tufted ears. The mongoose, another common predator that lives in this ecoregion, frequently preys on small rodents, snakes, and birds. Crowned eagles circle above the trees searching for prey, which may even be a small monkey. Several species of monkeys do indeed live here, including Skye’s monkey and the black and white colobus. Fruit-eating birds include orioles, hornbills, and tinkerbirds, which fill the forest air with their metallic calls. At night, shy bushpigs come out to root for plants to eat, while bushbabies, primitive primates with enormous eyes, leap from tree to tree hunting insects. Although large animals are not particularly common in this ecoregion, if you're really lucky, you might spot a leopard, a lion, or even an elephant!

Cause for Concern

People are cutting down many of the trees in this ecoregion for firewood, building materials, and to make room for agriculture. People are also extracting woody materials from this region for products such as charcoal and rope. Although some of the small forest patches are protected reserves and burial groves, many are poorly managed due to a lack of Forestry Department resources.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.