African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Caprivi, Namibia Photograph by Kate Newman   Afrotropics Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   102,100 square miles (264,400 square kilometers) -- about twice the size of Alabama Vulnerable

· Zambezian Woodland Wonders
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Zambezian Woodland Wonders

Wander through the forests, thickets, and grasslands of this southern African ecoregion and you'll be dazzled by the variety of life forms that climb, gallop, and fly about you. Honey badgers dig for insects and rodents in the soil. Herds of zebras, roan antelopes, sable antelopes, bushbucks, and kudus graze on lush grasses and shrubs. Vultures and hawk eagles circle overhead. This ecoregion even harbors some of Africa's largest mammals, including white rhinos, black rhinos, elephants, lions, cheetahs, and leopards.

Special Features

This ecoregion contains a mosaic of habitats, with dry deciduous forests dominated by Baikiaea plurijuga trees alternating with thickets and secondary grasslands. The ecoregion forms on the deep Kalahari sands southwest of Zambia, southeastern Angola, and northeastern Namibia and extends into northern Botswana and southwestern Zimbabwe. The ecoregion lies on a broad plain between 2600 and 3300 feet (800 - 1000 m) in elevation and has a hot, semi-arid climate. Considerable variation in vegetation, combined with scattered wetlands and riverine areas, make this area attractive to a variety of life forms.

	Baby blue wildebeests begin walking within minutes of their birth.

Wild Side

In addition to those mentioned above, this ecoregion supports grazing species such as sitatungas, reedbucks, impalas, common duikers, oribis, steenboks, elands, blue wildebeests, buffalo, hartebeests, giraffes, tsessbes, waterbucks, pukus, and hippos. Packs of African wild dogs and clans of spotted hyenas patrol their territories, searching for prey. More than 400 bird species inhabit the region, including Bradfield's hornbills, southern ground hornbills, secretarybirds, tawny eagles, Pel's fishing owls, and wattled cranes. The region is also home to rare black-cheeked lovebirds, which were seriously depleted by the cage-bird trade in the 1920s. Five of the ecoregion's reptile species are endemic, including black round-headed worm-lizards and Khwai River toads.

Cause for Concern

Because it is sparsely settled and so dry, much of this ecoregion has not been modified or fragmented. Close to eight percent of the region lies in protected areas. The greatest threats to the ecoregion are logging, frequent wildfires, poaching, land clearing for agriculture, unregulated tourism, and spraying for tsetse flies, which has been known to affect birds and other animals.

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