Yangudi Rassa National Park ( am, ያንጉዲ ራሳ ብሔራዊ ፓርክ, translit=yanigudī rasa biḥērawī pariki) is a
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
in
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 ...
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 ...
.
Geography
Its of territory include Mount Yangudi () near the southern boundary and the surrounding Rassa Plains, with altitudes from above sea level. 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 ...
flows through the park from south to north.
The park headquarters are south of the park in
Gewane
Gewane is a town in north-eastern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 3 of the Afar Region, it has an elevation of 618 meters above sea level. Gewane is locally known as New Gewane, 2 kilometers east of the original settlement known as Old G ...
. The
Awash-
Asseb
Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea.
Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beaches ...
highway runs north and south through the park.
The park adjoins
Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve
Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve () is a protected area in Ethiopia. It is located in Afar Region of Ethiopia. The reserve protects a portion of the Awash River and the surrounding desert.
Geography
Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve covers an area of 6503 ...
to the north, Awash West Controlled Hunting Area to the west, and Gewane Wildlife Reserve to the south.
[
]
Flora
Sandy semi-desert and wooded grassland cover the majority of the park's area. Native grasses include ''Aristida
''Aristida'' is a very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. ''Aristida'' is distinguished by having three awns (bristles) on each lemma of each floret. The genus includes about 300 species found worldwide, often in arid war ...
'' sp., '' Chrysopogon plumulosus, Dactyloctenium scindicum, Digitaria
''Digitaria'' is a genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. ...
'' sp., ''Lasiurus scindicus
''Lasiurus'' is a genus of Asian and African plants in the grass family, Poaceae, found primarily in arid regions. The only known species is ''Lasiurus scindicus'', native to drier regions of northern Africa and southwestern Asia, from Morocco a ...
'', and '' Sporobolus ioclados'', which provide fodder for wild grazing animals and livestock.[ There are marshes and riverine forests along the Awash River.]
Fauna
Yangudi Rassa National Park is home to 36 species of mammals and 200 species of birds recorded within the park's biome. It was proposed to protect the 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''), a subspecies of African wild ass
The African wild ass (''Equus africanus'') or African wild donkey is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey (''Equus asinus''), which is sometimes placed within the same spec ...
. The wild asses graze on grasses and live in small groups. Recently, the wild ass became extinct in Yagundi Rassa. However, there is a small population in the adjacent Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve
Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve () is a protected area in Ethiopia. It is located in Afar Region of Ethiopia. The reserve protects a portion of the Awash River and the surrounding desert.
Geography
Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve covers an area of 6503 ...
(8,766 km).
Large animals native to the park include 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 ...
, 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 Germ ...
, 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 ...
, lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
, Grevy's zebra, cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
, and leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
. Other animals that live within the protected areas includes 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 vegeta ...
, Hamadryas Baboon
The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula. These re ...
, Bat-eared Fox
The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during th ...
, Black-backed Jackal
The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers.
One region includes the southe ...
, Striped Hyena, and Aardwolf
The aardwolf (''Proteles cristata'') is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for " mane-jackal"), termite-eatin ...
.
Bird species of interest include lesser flamingo
The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered Vagrancy (biology), vagrants.
Charac ...
(''Phoeniconaias minor''), pale rockfinch (''Carpospiza brachydactyla'') and Arabian bustard
The Arabian bustard (''Ardeotis arabs'') is a species of bustard which is found across the Sahel region of Africa and south western Arabia. It is part of the large-bodied genus, ''Ardeotis'', and, though little known, appears to be a fairly typi ...
(''Ardeotis arabs'').["Important Bird Area factsheet: Yangudi-Rassa National Park, Ethiopia"]
BirdLife International website (accessed 21 March 2022) Lesser Kestrel
The lesser kestrel (''Falco naumanni'') is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer bird migration, migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometim ...
and Pallid Harrier
The pale or pallid harrier (''Circus macrourus'') is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier subfamily. The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek. ''Circus'' is from ''kirkos'', referring to a bird of prey named for its circling fli ...
are only known Somali-Masai Biome species in the park that considered globally threatened. Other bird species that roam consist of the Terek Sandpiper
The Terek sandpiper (''Xenus cinereus'') is a small migratory Palearctic wader species and is the only member of the genus ''Xenus''. It is named after the Terek River which flows into the west of the Caspian Sea, as it was first observed aroun ...
, Common Sandpiper
The common sandpiper (''Actitis hypoleucos'') is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (''A. macularia''), make up the genus ''Actitis''. They are parapatric and replace each other geographic ...
, Common Redshank
The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.
Taxonomy
The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...
, Woodchat Shrike
The woodchat shrike (''Lanius senator'') is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. It can be identified by its red-brown crown and nape. It is mainly insectivorous and favours open wooded areas with scattered trees such as orchards, particularl ...
, Lesser Grey Shrike
The lesser grey shrike (''Lanius minor'') is a member of the shrike family ''Laniidae''. It breeds in South and Central Europe and western Asia in the summer and migrates to winter quarters in southern Africa in the early autumn, returning in sp ...
, Eurasian blackcap
The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are sma ...
, and Ortolan Bunting
The ortolan (''Emberiza hortulana''), also called ortolan bunting, is a Eurasian bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a passerine family now separated by most modern scholars from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is fro ...
.
Conservation
The park was designated in 1969 by the Ethiopian Government. The park was not formally gazetted, and for decades the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority
The Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Amharic: የባህልና ቱሪዝም ሚኒስቴር) is the ministry of the government of Ethiopia responsible for researching, preserving, developing, and promoting the culture and tourist attra ...
(EWCA) lacked sufficient funding and staffing to effectively manage the park.[
The local people are 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 ...
, who graze livestock inside and adjacent to the park.[
]
See also
* List of protected areas of Ethiopia
References
External links
Yangudi Rassa National Park
(United Nations Environment Programme website)
{{authority control
National parks of Ethiopia
Protected areas of Afar Region
Somali Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets