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Contents

eyeball Country profile
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eyeball Biological significance
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eyeball Conservation threats
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eyeball WWF involvement
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eyeball Achievements
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eyeball Scholarships
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eyeball Udzungwa mountains National Park
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eyeball Environmental education - TEEP
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eyeball Ruaha National Park
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eyeball Conservation of lowland coastal forests
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eyeball Mafia island marine park blue line
header: Tanzania


BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Africa wild dog Tanzania is a country of extraordinary natural beauty and diversity. It encompasses both the highest and lowest points on the African continent, from Mount Kilimanjaro at 5,896 metres to the bottom of Lake Tanganyika, at 358 metres below sea-level. Only 5 per cent of the terrain is cultivated, by a population that is 93 percent rural.

It is the only country in Africa that contains part of five bio-geographical units. The savannah parks and eastern forests; the extensive wetlands of western Tanzania; the coral reefs and the mangrove estuaries on the coast; the afromontane habitats of Mounts Kilimanjaro and Meru; the Rift Valley soda lakes and the various freshwater fisheries of Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika and Malawi - all these are of immense ecological importance.

In central Tanzania, the Serengeti plain supports perhaps the world's largest remaining elephant population, as well as great numbers of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.

Many endangered mammals are found throughout the country, including the black rhino (Diceros bicornis), the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), the leopard (Panthera pardus), the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), and the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). Tanzania is also home to more than 1,000 species of birds and nearly 300 species of reptiles.