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Number of species
Sources :IUCN 1996.The IUCN Red List of threatened Species: Summary statisticsfor globally threatened species. Species Survival Commission. IUCN –The
World Conservation Union. Gland; IUCN 2003.The IUCN Red List of threatened Species: Summary statistics for globally threatened species. Species Survival
Commission. IUCN –TheWorld Conservation Union. Gland; UNEP 2002. Africa Environment Outlook: Past, present and future perspectives. UNEP. Nairobi
Threatened Species in Zambezi River Basin countries
Angola
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Tanzania
Namibia
Mozambique
Malawi
Botswana
1996
2000
2003
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Total 1996
Total 2003
Total 2000
The Zambezi basin is rich in wildlife, fish, plants,
and insects. These are found in terrestrial,
freshwater and marine ecosystems. Many species
are endemic to the Zambezi River Basin, including
Lake Malawi’s cichlids and the Mt. Mulanje cedar
(SADC and SARDC 2008).
Despite the abundance of wildlife resources in
the basin, there are pressures that threaten the
existence of this resource. Species that have become
extinct in the basin in recent times include the blue
wildebeest in Malawi, the Tsetsebe in Mozambique,
and the Kob in Tanzania (SADC and SARDC 2008).
Others face a high risk of extinction, and the
number of threatened species across the basin
continues to rise. The White (Grass) rhinocerous,
Black (Browse) rhinoceros, and the Black Wildebeest
are critically close to disappearing altogether, even
though decisive conservation action is allowing
some populations to revive (SADC and SARDC 2008).
The Wattled Crane is endangered in the basin partly
due to controlled flooding in the Kafue Flats which
has reduced its nesting sites. The population of the
lechwe (Kobus lechwe kafuenis) has also fallen in the
Kafue due to alteration of their marshy habitat (SADC
and SARDC 2008).
Figure 2.9
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.
Wildlife
© Antonio Klaus Kaarsberg
© Antonio Klaus Kaarsberg