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Upon some light reading this week about the Ethiopian Government using wasps’ to kill aphids that are killing trees, I thought I should learn more about Ethiopia’s natural resources. I will pass on the “Cliff Notes” of what I have learned to you and discuss animals and the ecosystems of Ethiopia in my next few posts. As parents of Ethiopians I know we want to learn all we can about the country, but we also have real time constraints on us as well!
When we traveled in the Awash region of Ethiopia, we noticed that the tour guide and guidebooks tended to concentrate on small animals and birds as the big game had not been seen in the region for a while. This made me very sad and upset. I would love for my family to be able to return to Ethiopia someday and enjoy the wildlife. I would love for my grand-children to be able to visit and experience the “Wild Animal Africa” we all think of. I understand that they pressures that the Ethiopian government and people are going through are very difficult and it is hard to concentrate on wild life when there are so many people hungry and dying from infectious diseases. I so wish that through conserving the natural habitat of Ethiopia that jobs and stability could be established. With the beautiful lands, the different types of ecosystems and the people groups Ethiopia has so much to offer the world.
There are at least 15 endemic animals to Ethiopia that are critically endangered, endangered or at risk of being endangered and over 20 more african animals in Ethiopia that are endangered including: African Wild Ass, Black rhino, Ethiopian Wolf, Grevy’s Zebra, wild dog, lion, elephant and several types of shrews. I didn’t know what a shrew was but I quickly learned it looks like a rat with an even pointier nose. I would like to talk a bit about a few of these animals.
The Ethiopian Wolf, also known as the Abyssinian Wolf or Abyssinian Fox is native to Ethiopia and the only wolf found in Africa. It’s conservation status is at the endangered level. It is mostly found in parts of south Ethiopia in the Bale Mountains, but can also be spotted in the North. Eating mostly rodents, it is not considered a major threat to sheep and other livestock. Rabies, from local dog populations, has been the greatest threat to this population of wolf as there was an outbreak in 1990 that greatly reduced the largest known pack. A oral vaccine program has been developed to help save this animal.
Ways to help* the Ethiopian Wolf. This is a beautiful animal that I hope remains in Ethiopia.
The lion. Everyone loves lions, or at least the thought of lions roaming the African plains. I have to admit I wanted to see a lion so badly when we were in the Awash countryside of Ethiopia. I was convinced that I would at least hear one while I was sleeping in a hut. That didn’t happen unfortuantly. The only lion we saw was a caged lion that had been raised “domesticated” and was not able to be able to be released since he didn’t know how to hunt and live in the wild. It was a pitiful lion, who looked like he wasn’t being fed regularly as it was. He did roar though and I ached for him to be free or at least in a nicer enviroment.
In Ethiopia the Lion represents National pride and has deep religious meaning. Many Ethiopian flags have a lion on them. Birr, the currency in Ethiopia, are adorned with the lion’s majesty. The rich history of Jewish Ethiopians and the Lion of Judea. An anti-fascist resistance movement during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia was name The Black Lions.
The lions of Ethiopia are smaller than eastern African Lions and the males have a black mange on them. The draughts, decreasing roaming lands and people all seem to be working against the mighty lion. To learn more about the lions in Ethiopia check this out.
* These are organizations that I have found in my readings. I do not know all about them or work with them.
Photo Credit Mandy W 2008
