Ambohitantely Special Reserve is a

wildlife reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Geography

This reserve is situated in

Analamanga Analamanga is a region in central Madagascar, containing the capital Antananarivo and its surrounding metropolitan area. The region has an area of , and had a population of 3,618,128 in 2018. Administrative divisions Analamanga Region is divided in ...

region, north-west of the town of

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

in the district of

Ankazobe Ankazobe is a municipality in Analamanga Region, in the Central Highlands (Madagascar), Central Highlands of Madagascar. It is the administrative capital of Ankazobe District and is situated at 75 km north of the capital Antananarivo. Infras ...

. It covers of primary rainforests and of grassland savannah. It consists of several sections of the last primary rainforest, on the high plateau in central Madagascar, along with grasslands, caves and waterfalls, at an altitude of to . The mean annual rainfall is . The entrance to the reserve is on route 4, near the village of Arazana and the nearest hotel is at

. The ethnic groups living in and around the reserve are the

Betsileo The Betsileo are a highland ethnic groups of Madagascar, ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population. They chose their name, meaning "The Many Invincible Ones", after a failed invasion by King Ramitraho of the Menabe king ...

, Betsimisaraka, and

Merina The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, or Hova) are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.Merina ...

peoples.

Flora and fauna

The main habitats of the reserve are primary rainforests and grassland savannah. The black-bark tree, Fanola (''

Asteropeia amblyocarpa ''Asteropeia amblyocarpa'' is a species of plant in the Asteropeiaceae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destructio ...

'') is registered as critically endangered on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, and '' Schizolaena tampoketsana'' with its twisted fissured trunk is believed to have only 160–370 mature individuals in existence. Sihara palm (''

Dypsis onilahensis ''Dypsis onilahensis'' is a species of palm tree in the family Arecaceae. It is endemic to Madagascar as is reflected in the species name (onilahensis) referring to the Onilahy River, south of Toliara. It is threatened by habitat loss. Descrip ...

''), Manambe palm ('' Dypsis decipiens''), and rosewood ('' Dalbergia monticola'') are all registered as

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

. Three lemur species are found in the reserve:

brown mouse lemur The brown mouse lemur (''Microcebus rufus'') is a small primate, and like the other mouse lemurs can only be found on the island of Madagascar. They are known also as the rufous mouse lemur, eastern rufous mouse lemur, red mouse lemur, or russet ...

(''Microcebus rufus)'',

eastern woolly lemur The eastern woolly lemur (''Avahi laniger''), also known as the eastern avahi or Gmelin's woolly lemur, is a species of woolly lemur native to eastern Madagascar, where it lives in the wet tropical rainforest at low elevations along the eastern ...

(''Avahi laniger''), and

common brown lemur The common brown lemur (''Eulemur fulvus'') is a species of lemur in the family Lemuridae. It is found in Madagascar and has been introduced to Mayotte. Taxonomy Five additional currently recognized species of lemur were until 2001 considered s ...

(''Eulemur fulvus''). Rare birds found in the reserve include the

Malagasy harrier The Malagasy harrier (''Circus macrosceles'') is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It inhabits Madagascar and the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Réunion harrie ...

(''Circus macrosceles'') and

Madagascar ibis The Madagascar ibis (''Lophotibis cristata''), also known as the Madagascar crested ibis, white-winged ibis or crested wood ibis, is a medium-sized (approximately 50 cm long), brown- plumaged ibis. It has bare red orbital skin, yellow bill, ...

(''Lophotibis cristata''). The frog ''

Anodonthyla vallani ''Anodonthyla vallani'' is a species of microhylid frog. The frog was discovered in Madagascar and was previously confused with '' Anodonthyla nigrigularis''. This species is only found in high elevation forests of the Ambohitantely Reserve Am ...

'' is likely occurs only within the reserve. The reserve is the only known habitat of the critically endangered Darth Vader giant pill millipede (''

Zoosphaerium darthvaderi ''Zoosphaerium darthvaderi'', also known as the Darth Vader giant pill millipede, is a species of giant pill millipede endemic to the island state of Madagascar. It is named after the ''Star Wars'' character Darth Vader. The millipede is restricte ...

'').

Threats

The area is threatened with

Slash-and-burn agriculture Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

and irrigation for rice paddies.

References

External links

Madagascar National Parks
{{authority control 1982 establishments in Madagascar Analamanga Special reserves of Madagascar Protected areas established in 1982 Madagascar subhumid forests