Addo Elephant National Park, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa Photograph by Caleb Smith http://caleb.smith.tripod.com   Afrotropics Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub   6,600 square miles (17,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Hawaii Critical/Endangered

· Hidden Moisture
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Hidden Moisture

Located around the southern tip of Africa, the Albany Thicket ecoregion is almost impenetrable in places, with a high proportion of endemic species and succulent shrubs. Many plants gather their moisture from mists from the valleys.

Special Features

The wide, deep valleys of this ecoregion have sandy soils that provide excellent growing conditions for thickets. The Albany Thicket is characterized by three groups of vegetation, each adapted to different levels of precipitation and temperature. The more succulent and spiny shrubs such as spekboom and small bitterleaf, which can survive with little moisture and high temperatures, grow inland. Intermontane thickets also occur in dry country but with more moderate temperatures. Spekboom grows here among kerky bush, jacketplum, and many succulent herbs and grasses. The coastal areas support more thicket vegetation that requires greater moisture. The plants, including bitter aloe, septemberbush, and white milkwood, grow so thickly that they are almost impenetrable. The entire ecoregion is rich in plant species, many of which are endemic.

	Africa is home to the most species of dung beetles in the world. Sixteen thousand dung beetles were once counted in 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg) of elephant dung. They can eat, roll, and bury a pile of dung in two hours.

Wild Side

Birds in the Albany Thicket include species typically found in forests and thickets, such as the black sparrowhawk and black-headed oriole. The orange-breasted sunbird and Cape siskin are more specialized, living here and in a few similar areas. More than nine species of antelope find their homes among these thickets. Other mammals include elephants, samango monkeys, black rhinoceroses, and leopards. Reptiles are represented by a rich array of species, many of which are endemic: including Tasman’s legless skink, the striped sandveld lizard, Essex’s leaf-toed gecko, and the Albany adder.

Cause for Concern

More than half of this ecoregion has been damaged by land uses such as goat farming, agriculture, and urban development. Addo Elephant National Park and the Groendal Wilderness area protect some of the endangered animals, including elephants and black rhinoceroses, but many of this ecoregion’s endemic plants remain at risk.

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