Endemic Fauna

The Ethiopian Highlands contain some of the most remote areas on Earth.  As such it is not surprising that many endemic animal species call the region home.  Below are a few examples of the incredible animal life that can be found nowhere else on earth.

The Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis) live 3,200m above sea level in the rugged mountains of the highlands.  They are confined to seven isolated mountain ranges and more than half of the species population lives n the Bale Mountains.  They primarily eat rodents, but also eat baboons when they can catch them.  The Ethiopian wolf is endangered as are most endemic species in the highlands.




The Walia ibex (Capra walie) is an extremely rare and endangered animal.  It is thought that only 500 or so Walia ibex survive in the highlands.  Threats from poaching and shriking habitat threaten the existence of this species.  





Gelada Baboons (Theropithecus gelada) is a species of old world monkey that live in the highlands.  They live in large groups and are the only species of monkey that can eat grass.  They graze and live entirely off of grass.  Their natural predators include the Ethiopian WOlf.  At night these baboons sleep on steep cliffs so as not to be eaten.


  

Video of Gelada Baboons grazing:

Traditional Music of The Ethiopian Highlands

Traditional music from the Ethiopian Highlands has been shaped and molded by the ruggedness of the region.  Although areas of the highlands are extremely isolated, some European influences have influenced the sounds.  Due to the isolated nature of the Highlands, many forms of music have developed somewhat independently of each other and as such the range of rhytms and instruments vary widely.   Instruments used include animal hide drums, harps, lyres, reed flutes or single voices. The music borrows much from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, including hand-clapping and solo rattles and drums. The video below has contains excellent examples of traditional music from the Ethiopian Highlands.  Enjoy!

Life in The Ethiopian Highlands

Ethiopia is considered by many to be the birth place of humanity.  People have lived in the Highlands for thousands of years and have thrived.  Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that was never colonized.  Ethiopians were able to exploit the rugged mountain terrain to their advantage so that invading armies had no hope of defeating them on their own turf.  

Wealth, food and status in Ethiopia is dependent on land.  Without land you have little hope of growing food to eat.  Land is becoming scarce in the Ethiopian Highlands.  Over population and years of bad farming practices have made life in the highlands extremely difficult.  The video below highlights the problems and hardships that the people of Ethiopians highlands face.

Geology of The Ethiopian Highlands

The highlands began to rise over 75 million years ago as the result of upwelling magma which pushed up a dome of ancient rocks of the African Craton.  The upwelling magma originated deep in the Earth's mantle and flowed onto the surface in large basaltic lava flows.  These thick, basaltic lava flows piled up over millions of years to create the expansive highlands and plateaus that are so primenent throughout the region.  As the African plate began to split around 40 million years ago the East African Rift began to develop which broke the highlands into several sections.


         

Salt lakes began to fill in the depressions formed by the rift and alkaline shield volcanoes continued to spew lava.

Millennia of uplift and erosion has sculpted the surreal landscapes throughout the highlands.

Ethiopians Highlands: Geography

The Ethiopian Highlands are a mass of mountains located primarily in Ethiopia, though  portions of the range stretch into Eritrea and northern Somalia.  The highlands contain the highest mountains in Africa.  Most of the range is 5,000 ft. above sea level and the highest peak stands at 14,928 ft. The region is sometimes referred to as "the Roof of Africa"  because of it's immense height.  

                                         

The Great Rift Valley divides the highlands into a northwestern and a southeastern portion.  The northwestern portion encompasses the Tigray and Amahara regions, as wells as the Semien Mountains which is a national park and a world heritage site.  Ras Dashan is the highest in the Semien Mountains and the highest peak in Ethiopia.

View from the Semien Mountains

The southeastern region of the highlands is made up predmoniatly of the Oromia Region which contains the Bale Mountains which contains Tullu Demtu which is the second highest peak in the range standing at 4337m.  

Mt. Tullu Demtu