Beiza oryx (Oryx gazella beisa), Awash National Park, Ethiopia Photograph by © WWF-Canon/Martin NICOLL   Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   406,700 square miles (1,053,300 square kilometers) -- about the size of Texas and Montana combined Vulnerable

· Horned Animals in the Horn of Africa
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Horned Animals in the Horn of Africa

The grasslands and shrublands that extend across this region (known as the Horn of Africa) are home to a wide variety of wild creatures, including birds, reptiles, and large mammals. Many animals in the antelope family graze and browse in these shrublands, including Dorcas gazelles, Soemmering's gazelles, Swayne's hartebeests, and beiras.

Special Features

This ecoregion covers the majority of the Horn of Africa to the east of the Ethiopian highlands. Primarily flat and low-lying, it contains many areas of dry woodlands and scrub (including a plant community called camel-brush) that make a transition to grasslands and deserts in the driest places. Annual rainfall across the region ranges from about four inches (100 mm) in the Ogaden Desert to around 24 inches (600 mm) in areas bordering the Ethiopian highlands. Temperatures range from 59° to 86° F (15° to 30° C). Only three permanent rivers exist in this region: the Awash, Wabi Shebele, and Jubba.

	The naked mole-rat (also known as the sand puppy) is a highly social species that forms colonies similar to termites and bees. As with bees, these mammals share a single nest and a queen, with other members of the colony acting as workers.

Wild Side

You'll find many endemic species of reptiles in this region, such as scaly leaf-toed geckos and white-headed beaked snakes, as well as many endemic dryland plants. Endemic mammals found here include a tall, slender antelope called the dibatag and Speke's gazelle. When predators are spotted, the Speke’s gazelle signals an alarm call with a sneeze-like sound, while the dibatag conceals itself behind vegetation--using its long, giraffe-like neck to keep watch of the danger. The rare Grevy's zebra and the African wild ass graze in the company of more widely-distributed species, including those mentioned above. Along the rivers of this region, you might spy two species of bird endemic to this region: the Degodi lark and the Bulo Burti bush-shrike. Sidamo larks, white-tailed swallows, and Ethiopian bush crows fly within the grasslands and thickets of the South Ethiopian highlands. One species found here that you probably won’t see is the naked mole-rat. These hairless rodents live underground and feed on roots and tubers.

Cause for Concern

Human population density is low here, so most of the wild habitats of this region are unfragmented and intact. The greatest threats to the region include livestock grazing and fuelwood collection, especially close to towns. And illegal hunting has taken a big toll on some of the region's mammals following decades of political instability and open warfare in the region.

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