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Grand Bara
The Grand Bara ( so, Baadha Wayn), Bara Wein or Bada Wein, is a desert in southern Djibouti. It consists of large areas of sand flats, with sparse, semi-desert and desert grasses and scrub vegetation. A road built in 1981 passes through the area, connecting the capital Djibouti City with the south. Prior to the arrival of the French, the extremely arid interior was inhabited primarily by the Issa Somali. Runners make their way across the Grand Bara Desert during the Annual Grand Bara 15K race. Geography The Grand Bara and Petit Bara are the remains of dried up lake beds. They form vast arid plains in the centre of Djibouti and mark the delimitation of the volcanic part of the country from the sedimentary part. The clay of which they are formed is poorly drained and water collects here in the rainy season and this is followed by the growth of grasses. Djibouti has few paved roads; it has been estimated that there are about of roads, only about 12% being paved, and fewer than ha ...
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Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of . In antiquity, the territory, together with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, was part of the Land of Punt. Nearby Zeila, now in Somaliland, was the seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established following treaties signed by the ruling Dir Somali sultans with the French, and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted for independence. This officially marked the establishment of the ''Rep ...
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Soemmerring's Gazelle
Soemmerring's gazelle (''Nanger soemmerringii''), also known as the Abyssinian mohr, is a gazelle species native to the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan). The species was described and given its binomen by German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar in 1828. Three subspecies are recognized. It is possibly no longer present in Sudan. Since 1986, Soemmerring's gazelle has been classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Taxonomy and evolution The scientific name of Soemmerring's gazelle is ''Nanger soemmerringii''. Formerly considered member of genus ''Gazella'' within the subgenus ''Nanger'' before ''Nanger'' was elevated to genus status, Soemmerring's gazelle is one of members of the genus ''Nanger'' and is classified under the family Bovidae. The species was described and given its binomial name by German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar in the ''In Rüppell, Atlas zu der reise im nördlichen Afr ...
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Archer's Lark
Archer's lark (''Heteromirafra archeri''), also known as the Liben lark, is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Somalia, Somaliland and Ethiopia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss. The bird's common name and binomial commemorate the British explorer and colonial official Sir Geoffrey Francis Archer. Taxonomy and systematics Formerly, the Liben lark has been considered by some authorities as belonging to the genus ''Mirafra''. The Sidamo lark was previously considered as a separate species (as ''H. sidamoensis'') and by some authorities as a subspecies of Liben lark (as ''H. a. sidamoensis''), but since 2014 has been considered conspecific with the Liben lark. Note that the alternate names "long-clawed lark" and "Sidamo lark" are also used as alternate names by Rudd's lark and Degodi lark respectively. Some authorities have also considered Archer's ...
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Northern Sand Gecko
''Tropiocolotes tripolitanus'', also known as the northern sand gecko or Tripoli gecko, is a species of gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ... found in northern Africa. References tripolitanus Reptiles described in 1880 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters {{gecko-stub ...
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Berbera Gerbil
The Berbera gerbil (''Gerbillus acticola'') is distributed mainly in Somalia, but its range may extend into Ethiopia and Djibouti. It is endemic to the Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands ecoregion. Description The Berbera gerbil has an average head-and-body length of and a tail of . It is a small gerbil, the upper pars being sandy orange, the individual hairs having grey shafts and orange tips. The flanks are rather paler, the hairs being white with orange tips, and the underparts are pure white, with a clear demarcation line between the dorsal and ventral pelage. There is a white patch round the eye and the cheeks, chin, throat and feet are white. The soles of the feet are hairless. The long tail is sandy orange above and pale below, and has a narrow tuft of brown and white hairs at its tip. It is generally similar in size and appearance to the greater Egyptian gerbil (''Gerbillus pyramidum''), but they have different geographical ranges. Distribution and habitat The Ber ...
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Beisa Oryx
The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa''), also known as the beisa is a species of antelope from East Africa. It has two subspecies: the common beisa oryx (''Oryx beisa beisa'') found in steppe and semidesert throughout the Horn of Africa and north of the Tana River, and the fringe-eared oryx (''Oryx beisa callotis'') south of the Tana River in southern Kenya and parts of Tanzania. In the past, some taxonomists considered it a subspecies of the gemsbok (''Oryx gazella''), but they are genetically distinct; the diploid chromosome count is 56 for the beisa and 58 for the gemsbok. The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN. Description The East African oryx stands just over a metre at the shoulder and weighs around . It has a grey coat with a white underside, separated from the grey by a stripe of black, with black stripes where the head attaches to the neck, along the nose, and from the eye to the mouth and on the forehead. The mane is small and chestnut-coloured; the ringed h ...
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Gerenuk
The gerenuk (; so, garanuug; ''Litocranius walleri''), also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked antelope found in parts of East Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Litocranius'', the gerenuk was first described by the naturalist Victor Brooke in 1879. It is characterised by its long, slender neck and limbs. The antelope is tall, and weighs between . Two types of colouration are clearly visible on the smooth coat: the reddish brown back or the "saddle", and the lighter flanks, fawn to buff. The horns, present only on males, are lyre-shaped. Curving backward then slightly forward, these measure . Taxonomy and phylogeny The gerenuk was first described by Victor Brooke in 1879 on the basis of three male specimens procured on "the mainland of Africa, north of the island of Zanzibar". Brooke used the scientific name ''Gazella walleri'', on the request of Gerald Waller (who provided the specimens) to name it after his deceased brother. The type locality was later corr ...
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Salt's Dik-dik
Salt's dik-dik (''Madoqua saltiana'') is a small antelope found in semidesert, bushland, and thickets in the Horn of Africa, but marginally also in northern Kenya and eastern Sudan. It is named after Henry Salt, who was the first European to acknowledge the species in Abyssinia in the early 19th century. Description Salt's dik-diks are long, high, and weigh . Kingdon, J. (1997). ''The Kingdon Guide to African Mammals.'' Academic Press. As in other dik-diks, the small, pointed horns are only present in the male. Their colour varies significantly depending on the subspecies. Taxonomy Together with the closely related silver dik-dik, this species forms the subgenus ''Madoqua'' in the genus ''Madoqua'' (other dik-diks are also in the genus ''Madoqua'', but the subsgenus ''Rhynchotragus'').Ansell, W. F. H. (1972). Order Artiodactyla. Part 15. Pp. 1-84. ''in'': Meester, J., and H. W. Setzer, eds (1972). ''The mammals of Africa: An identification manual''Smithsonian Institution ...
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Dorcas Gazelle
The dorcas gazelle (''Gazella dorcas''), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about at the shoulder, with a head and body length of and a weight of . The numerous subspecies survive on vegetation in grassland, steppe, wadis, mountain desert and in semidesert climates of Africa and Arabia. About 35,000–40,000 exist in the wild. Taxonomy and evolution The scientific name of the dorcas gazelle is ''Gazella dorcas''. It is a member of the genus ''Gazella'' and the family Bovidae. The species was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758. Although zoologist Theodor Haltenorth considered ''G. d. pelzelnii'' to be an independent species, the following six subspecies are identified: *''G. d.'' subsp. ''beccarii'' De Beaux, 1931 – Eritrean dorcas gazelle *''G. d.'' subsp. ''dorcas'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Egyptian dorcas gazelle *''G. d.'' subsp. ''isabella'' Gray, ...
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Ali Sabieh Region
Ali Sabieh Region ( ar, إقليم على صبيح, so, Gobolka Cali Sabiix) is a region in southern Djibouti. With a mainland area of 2,400 square kilometres (900 sq mi), it lies along the national border with Somaliland and Ethiopia, bordering also the Dikhil Region to the west and the Arta Region to the north. Its capital is Ali Sabieh. The Arrei Mountains are the highest point in the region. History Nomadic life in the Ali Sabieh Region dates back at least 2,000 years. During the Middle Ages, the Ali Sabieh Region was ruled by the Ifat Sultanate and the Adal Sultanate. It later formed a part of the French Somaliland protectorate in the first half of the 20th century. Considered the border with Ethiopia, the area had few permanent settlements at the turn of the 20th century. In 1904, a report notes that "when the border post of Ali Sabieh, it has the appearance of a fortress. Attached to the circle of "Gobad-Dikkil" from its inception in 1931, Ali Sabieh became the chief town ...
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Beira Antelope
The beira (''Dorcatragus megalotis'') is a small arid adapted antelope that inhabits arid regions of the Horn of Africa. It is the only member of the genus ''Dorcatragus''. Description The beira has a bushy tail and a coarse coat which is reddish grey on the back separated from the white underparts by a dark band which extends along each side from the elbow to the rear leg. Its long, slender legs are fawn-coloured and the head is yellowish red with black eyelids and white eye rings. The beira has disproportionately large ears, which are 15 cm long and 7.5 cm across with white fur on their interiors. Only the males have horns which are 7.5–10 cm long, straight spikes which grow out vertically from near the sides of the ears. The length of the animal is 80–86 cm, it stands 50–60 cm at the shoulder and weighs between 9-11.5 kg. Distribution The beira is endemic to northeast Africa, it occurs in the far south of Djibouti southwards across Somali ...
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