Mt. Kenya, Kenya Photograph by Kate Newman   Africa: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania Montane Grasslands and Shrublands   1,300 square miles (3,300 square kilometers) -- about the size of Rhode Island Relatively Stable/Intact

· Making Tracks
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Making Tracks

The paths through these forests have been well worn by animals large and small. The largest creatures you might spot here are elephants and buffalo, which use these forests as migration zones as they move from the grassy lowlands up to the higher moorlands.

Special Features

The forests of this ecoregion are found on the slopes of some of the highest mountains in Africa÷stretching from the Imatong Mountains in southern Sudan, through Mount Elgon in Uganda, to Mount Kenya to the east. To the south, the ecoregion includes the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru, and Ngorongoro in northern Tanzania. Some of the characteristic trees at lower elevations are camphor, olive, and Meru oak (found only on Mount Kenya), with the coniferous podo tree and bamboo found at higher elevations. The climate of this area is relatively temperate and seasonal, with temperatures falling below 50° F (10° C) in the cold season and rising to above 86° F (30° C) in the warm season. Rainfall ranges between 47 and 78 inches (1,200 - 2,000 mm) per year.

	At 19,340 feet (5,896 m), Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest peak in Africa, followed closely by Mount Kenya, which tops out at 16,354 feet (4,985 m).

Wild Side

Because these montane forests are isolated from each other like islands in the sea, local bird species are also distributed in patches. Some species, such as Hindeās pied-babbler, are found only on Mount Kenya. Other species, such as the Aberdare cisticola and Kenrickās starling, live on only two or three of the ecoregionās mountain ranges. These montane forests are also home to 19 species of endemic mammals, including white-toothed shrews and other shrew species, African bush squirrels, Jacksonās mongooses, and sun squirrels. Rats are welcome here too; African mole-rats, grass rats, and groove-toothed creek rats can all be found here.

Cause for Concern

At lower altitudes, forests have been destroyed to make way for tea, coffee, and conifer plantations. At higher altitudes, increased rates of human-caused fire are believed to have destroyed forest habitats, such as the cloud forests that have been lost on Mount Kilimanjaro.

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