Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve () is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It is located in

Afar Region The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the paved ...

of Ethiopia. The reserve protects a portion of the

Awash River The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of ...

and the surrounding desert.

Geography

Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve covers an area of 6503 km². It is located in the

Afar Depression The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins; tha ...

, a desert region lying between the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

and the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...

. It is part of the

Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands The Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands ecoregion is a semi-desert strip on or near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden coasts in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somaliland. This ecoregion lies mainly between sea level and 800 meters (m) eleva ...

ecoregion."Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 20 March 2022

/ref> The reserve includes the lower reach of the

, which originates in the Ethiopian Highlands and flows through the

African Rift Valley The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of ...

to empty into saline lakes, including

Lake Abbe Lake Abbe, also known as Lake Abhe Bad, is a salt lake, lying on the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. It is one of a chain of six connected lakes, which also includes (from north to south) lakes Gargori, Laitali, Gummare, Bario and Afambo. The lake i ...

, which lie immediately southeast of the reserve along the Ethiopia-

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 ...

border. Two other protected areas,

Yangudi Rassa National Park Yangudi Rassa National Park ( am, ያንጉዲ ራሳ ብሔራዊ ፓርክ, translit=yanigudī rasa biḥērawī pariki) is a national park in Ethiopia located in Afar Region. Geography Its of territory include Mount Yangudi () near the souther ...

and

Awash West Controlled Hunting Area Awash may refer to: * Awash, Ethiopia, a town in Ethiopia * Awash River, a river in Ethiopia * Awash National Park, in Ethiopia * Awash International Bank, in Ethiopia See also * * Avas The Avas is a hill of volcanic origin in Miskolc, Hun ...

, adjoin Mille-Serdo reserve on the southwest.

Fauna

The reserve was created to protect the critically endangered

Somali wild ass The Somali wild ass (''Equus africanus somaliensis'') is a subspecies of the African wild ass. It is found in Somalia, the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea, and the Afar Region of Ethiopia. The legs of the Somali wild ass are striped, resembli ...

(''Equus africanus somaliensis''). The species used to range more widely across the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. The wild population has declined precipitously since the early 1970s, and the remaining population, estimated at 70 to 600 individuals, is limited to a portion of the Afar Depression in Ethiopia and Eritrea."African Wild Ass". IUCN Equids Specialist Group. Accessed 20 March 2022

/ref>

Conservation

The reserve was designated in 1973, and is also known as the Mille-Serdo Wild Ass Reserve. The local people are Afar people, Afar

pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal ...

References

{{reflist Protected areas of Ethiopia Protected areas of Afar Region Awash River