Eritrea
África
Eritrea combines a high central plateau, with a temperate climate and remnants of juniper and African olive woodland, two arid slopes descending to east and west, and a Red Sea coast of more than a thousand kilometres with the Dahlak archipelago, more than three hundred almost uninhabited islands. The Danakil depression, in the southeast, is one of the hottest and most inhospitable places on the planet, with salt lakes, volcanoes and lava fields. Despite that harshness, it holds wildlife adapted to the extreme. In the southwest, the Gash-Barka region keeps wooded savannah and gallery forest with the northernmost elephant population in East Africa, isolated from the rest of the species. The Eritrean Red Sea waters stand out for their corals tolerant of very high temperatures.
The nature of Eritrea
National animal: The dromedary, present on the national coat of arms
Did you know?
The African wild ass, ancestor of all the world's domestic donkeys, survives only in a few pockets of Eritrea and the Ethiopian Danakil, with fewer than two hundred adults in the wild. It is one of the most endangered mammals on the planet, able to go several days without drinking and to survive on volcanic ground where almost no other large herbivore could feed.
Biodiversity profile
Climate
- •Desertico calido (BWh) en la costa del Mar Rojo (uno de los climas mas calurosos y secos de Africa)
- •Templado de montaña en las tierras altas centrales
- •Semiarido en las tierras bajas occidentales
Main biomes
- •Desierto costero del Mar Rojo (extremadamente arido, corredor critico de migracion de aves rapaces)
- •Tierras altas centrales (bosque y matorral montano, comparten endemismo con las Tierras Altas Etiopes)
- •Sabana en las tierras bajas occidentales
- •Arrecife de coral del mar Rojo
- •Depresión volcánica del Danakil
- •Meseta templada de altitud
- •Sabana arbolada
- •Isla coralina
- •Manglar del mar Rojo
- •Semidesierto costero
Marine and coastal ecosystems
- •Costa e islas del Mar Rojo (archipielago de Dahlak), con arrecifes de coral y manglares en condiciones climaticas extremas
Flagship wildlife
- •Aguila esteparia (migracion masiva por la costa)
- •Gacela dorcas
- •Especies de reptiles casi endemicos de la costa del Mar Rojo
- •Dugongo (aguas del Mar Rojo)
- •Asno salvaje africano
- •Elefante africano de sabana
- •Tortuga verde
- •Babuino hamadríade
- •Avestruz somalí
- •Cebra de Grevy
- •Chacal dorado
- •Manta gigante
Notable endemic species
- •Solo 3 especies casi endemicas confirmadas en el desierto costero eritreo, todas reptiles: aspide cavador de Ogaden, escinco cilindrico de Ragazzi y geco de hoja india
- •Comparte endemismo montano con las Tierras Altas Etiopes en su interior central
Notable threatened species
- •Dato no disponible con precision agregada nacional en fuentes verificadas consultadas para el conjunto del pais
Notable protected areas
- •Archipielago de Dahlak (Mar Rojo, propuesto para mayor proteccion)
- •Archipiélago de las Dahlak
- •Parque Nacional Marino de las Dahlak
- •Bosque de Semienawi Bahri
- •Región de Gash-Barka
- •Depresión de Danakil
- •Bahía de Massawa
Main conservation threats
- •Sobrepastoreo por comunidades pastoriles en zonas de escasa vegetacion
- •Ausencia casi total de areas protegidas formales en la costa desertica
- •Clima extremo (temperaturas minimas medias de 27°C, las mas altas registradas en Africa)
Notable natural phenomena
- •La costa eritrea es un corredor critico para la migracion masiva de aves rapaces entre Africa y Eurasia a traves del estrecho de Bab-el-Mandeb
Conservation
The African wild ass is critically endangered through hunting and hybridisation with domestic donkeys. The corals of the Eritrean Red Sea, which withstand temperatures lethal to other reefs, are being studied as a model of climate resilience.
Where and when to watch wildlife
The Dahlak islands year-round for reefs, dugongs and turtles. Gash-Barka in the dry season for elephants. The central plateau in spring for highland birds.
Sources: One Earth - Eritrean Coastal Desert | Wikipedia - Eritrean coastal desert
Especies documentadas en Eritrea
280 species found
Critically EndangeredGiant Clam
Tridacna gigas
Critically EndangeredWhite-backed Vulture
Gyps africanus
Critically EndangeredStaghorn Coral
Acropora cervicornis
Critically EndangeredBlack Rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
Critically EndangeredHawksbill Turtle
Eretmochelys imbricata
EndangeredMartial Eagle
Polemaetus bellicosus
EndangeredEgyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus
EndangeredBlue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus
EndangeredGrevy's Zebra
Equus grevyi
EndangeredAfrican Savanna Elephant
Loxodonta africana
EndangeredAfrican Wild Dog
Lycaon pictus
EndangeredGiant Manta
Mobula birostris
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about Eritrea.