Zambia

África

199

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Zambia is an inland country of plateaux covered by miombo woodland and crossed by three great river basins: those of the Zambezi, the Kafue and the Luangwa. The Luangwa valley, a branch of the Rift, concentrates an extraordinary density of wildlife around meanders and oxbow lagoons, and it was there in the 1950s that walking safaris were born, now practised across the whole of Africa. To the west, the Busanga plains, inside the immense Kafue park, flood every year and draw herds of antelope and their predators. To the north, the Bangweulu swamps form an enormous wetland where the black lechwe lives, an aquatic antelope exclusive to that area, alongside shoebills. The Victoria Falls, shared with Zimbabwe, mark the Zambezi's plunge into its lower course.

The nature of Zambia

National animal: The African fish eagle, the national bird, present on the flag

Did you know?

Every year, between October and December, as many as ten million straw-coloured fruit bats gather in a patch of swamp forest of less than a square kilometre in Kasanka park. It is the largest concentration of mammals on the planet and, measured in numbers of individuals, the largest mammal migration in existence. They come drawn by the fruiting of the trees, and every evening they darken the sky as they leave to feed.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Austral/Central (pais sin litoral, meseta centroafricana)Dato no disponible con precision agregada nacional en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw), moderado por la altitud de la meseta (1.000-1.600 msnm), tres estaciones: fresca-seca, calida-seca y calida-humeda

Main biomes

•Bosque de miombo (cubre aprox. 50% del territorio, centro del endemismo floristico zambeziano)
•Bosque de mopane y munga en los valles calidos del Zambeze y Luangwa
•Pastizales inundables (llanuras de Kafue y Bangweulu)
•Llanura inundable estacional
•Marisma interior
•Valle del Rift
•Bosque de galería
•Meandro y laguna fluvial
•Cataratas y garganta

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral); los rios Zambeze, Kafue y Luangwa y el sistema Chambeshi-Luapula son los ejes ecologicos principales

Flagship wildlife

•Lechwe de Kafue (antilope endemica de las llanuras inundables de Kafue, mas de 35.000 individuos registrados)
•Elefante de sabana
•Leon africano (Valle del Luangwa)
•Ñu azul migratorio (llanuras de Liuwa, mas de 30.000 individuos, segunda mayor migracion de ñus de Africa)
•Murciélago frugívoro pajizo
•Lechwe negro
•Picozapato
•Elefante africano de sabana
•Leopardo
•Hipopótamo
•Perro salvaje africano
•Jirafa de Thornicroft
•Cocodrilo del Nilo

Notable endemic species

•Pais situado en el centro del "centro regional de endemismo zambeziano"
•211 especies vegetales endemicas de un total de 3.788 registradas
•204 especies de peces y 200 de aves endemicas de un total de 3.631 especies faunisticas registradas
•Lechwe de Kafue, subespecie endemica de las llanuras inundables del rio Kafue
•Jirafa de Thornicroft
•Lechwe negro
•Ñu de Cookson

Notable threatened species

•76 especies de aves catalogadas como raras o en peligro
•31 especies de plantas y animales catalogadas como en peligro o vulnerables segun el estudio nacional de biodiversidad
•Lechwe de Kafue (Vulnerable, poblacion concentrada y dependiente del regimen hidrologico del rio)

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional Kafue (uno de los mayores de Africa)
•Parque Nacional de Liuwa (migracion de ñus)
•Valle del Luangwa (safaris a pie, alta densidad de depredadores)
•Parque Nacional del Luangwa Sur
•Parque Nacional de Kafue
•Parque Nacional de Kasanka
•Marismas de Bangweulu
•Parque Nacional del Bajo Zambeze
•Cataratas Victoria

Main conservation threats

•Alteracion del regimen hidrologico natural de las llanuras inundables por represas, con impacto en la lechwe de Kafue
•Deforestacion del miombo por agricultura de subsistencia y produccion de carbon vegetal
•Caza furtiva de elefantes

Notable natural phenomena

•Las llanuras de Liuwa sostienen la segunda mayor migracion anual de ñus azules de Africa, con aprox. 30.000 individuos

Conservation

The Kasanka forest, tiny but critical for the bat migration, is threatened by agricultural expansion at its edges. Thornicroft's giraffe lives only in the Luangwa valley, isolated from all other African giraffes.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Kasanka between November and December for the concentration of bats. South Luangwa between June and October, in the dry season, for walking safaris. Busanga between August and October for lions and antelopes.

Sources: Zambia CHM (zm.chm-cbd.net) - Zambia Biodiversity Executive Summary y Biodiversity Outline | One Earth - Zambezian Flooded Grasslands

Grassland