BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
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.