Facts About Africa

[StuartDH]

Africa is the second largest continent on earth

The length of Africa's coastline is approximately 18,950 miles

The highest mountain in Africa is Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is 19,317 ft high

Nearly 25% of Africa is forest or woodland

The smallest butterfly in the world is the Dwarf Blue Butterfly and it can be found in South Africa

The biggest frog in the world is the Goliath Frog, which lives in Cameroon

The Antartic currents on the west coast of Africa are sold cold that they are home to a thriving colony of penguins


If you know any more facts about Africa's wildlife and environment and the great outdoors then please add them here

[prashant]

The United Republic of Tanzania was formed out of the union of two sovereign states namely Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Tanganyika became a sovereign state on 9th December, 1961 and became a Republic the following year. Zanzibar became independent on 10th December, 1963 and the People's Republic of Zanzibar was established after the revolution of 12th January, 1964. The two sovereign republics formed the United Republic of Tanzania on 26th April, 1964. However, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is a unitary republic consisting of the Union Government and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government.


Tanzania is the biggest (land area) among the East African countries (i.e. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). Tanzania has a spectacular landscape of mainly three physiographic regions namely the Islands and the coastal plains to the east; the inland saucer-shaped plateau; and the highlands. The Great Rift Valley that runs from north east of Africa through central Tanzania is another landmark that adds to the scenic view of the country. The country has the largest concentration of wild animals. It also has pristine sandy beaches and Africa’s highest and snow-capped mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro. Tanzania is home to the world famous National Parks and Game Reserves of: Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Selous Game Reserve, Gombe Stream, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Mikumi, Arusha, Ruaha, Saadani, Udzungwa Mountains, and Mkomazi Game Reserve. Other Game Reserves include: Amani, Kigosi, Lukwika-Lumesule, Maswa, Monduli Mountains, Msangesi and Ugala.

Dar es Salaam is the commercial capital and major sea port for Tanzania Mainland and it serves neighbouring land-locked countries of Malawi, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as Eastern DRC. Other sea ports include Zanzibar, Tanga, and Mtwara. Because of its geographical and locational advantage, Dar es Salaam Port presents itself as the gateway into East and Central Africa. Furthermore, this renders Tanzania as a logical investment destination for investors.

Population: 35,922,454
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.)

[Emmanuel70]

Africa is home to the endangered Eastern Lowland Gorilla found in Eastern Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo). This subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla has been severely impacted by the the armed strife in the area and influx of impoverished migrants attracted by Coltan (Columbite-Tantalite), an ore used to produce Tantallum, primary material for the capacitors in your cell phones, DVD players, game consoles.

Cell Phone Recycling and Gorillas - The Hidden Connection
National Geographic: "Can Cell Phone Recycling Help African Gorillas?"

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel70

Africa is home to the endangered Eastern Lowland Gorilla found in Eastern Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo). This subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla has been severely impacted by the the armed strife in the area and influx of impoverished migrants attracted by Coltan (Columbite-Tantalite), an ore used to produce Tantallum, primary material for the capacitors in your cell phones, DVD players, game consoles.

Cell Phone Recycling and Gorillas - The Hidden Connection
National Geographic: "Can Cell Phone Recycling Help African Gorillas?"

Frostfire wrote a post a while back about one of the Dutch zoo's which are also collecting mobile telephones aswell :-

Frostfire. I think most the zoos in Holland really do do their best to be productive and not just entertainment. Something I stumbled upon a week or two ago was this: Blijdorp, a zoo in Rotterdam, which belongs to one of the best conservation projects in Europe, is now also striding to help the rainforests in Congo and whilst doing that protecting the natural habitat of the gorilla.
They are doing this by collecting old mobile phones and working together with a company which gives a certain amount of money for each collected mobile and recycles the wolfram used in the mobile. The reason Blijdorp is collecting mobiles to be recycled, is because the metal in it is escavated in the rainforests of Africa and by recycling it there is less need to destroy more forest. Also, the total amount they get from the company is spent on helping the gorillas in Congo.
There are different ways of handing in your old mobiles: there are dispensers in the zoo itself, or you can send of for special enveloppes to send your old phones to them and without postage costs.
Personnally I think this really simple way of raising money in a way everyone can join in, is a fantastic project and hope more zoos all around the world will take notice and also find ways like this to help nature a little bit more!

Here is a link for the Dutch among us who are interested:
Diergaarde Blijdorp - Mobieltjes voor gorilla's

It's great that zoo's have picked up on this initiative, and hopefully it will be a great success. Our old mobiles also went to the Blijdorp appeal .
Zoos

[luvcruise]

Thinking of Africa always excites me, being a wildlife lover can I expect a better place where I can get to see them in the full vigor! I was wondering if I there are any groups that can be found online who organizes tours to Africa so that I can be optimistic of being a accomplice with them too. Eventually I have been a solo traveler but this is one place where I want to share the prolific experiences with others can you people help me on this? Any news about the Holiday villas there?

[paul m]

One of those cases where a "good" idea (growing biofuel) becomes a "bad" idea (destroying wildlife habitat):
Wildlife and livelihoods at risk in Kenyan wetlands biofuel project | Environment | The Guardian

How are such conflicts to be avoided?

[black]

Scientists at Liverpool Uni have been investigating a Madagascan plant Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi. They believe that the novel genes found in Kalanchoe could provide a model of how bio-fuel plants could be grown on un-utilised desert and semi-arid lands, rather than on fertile farmland needed for producing food.

[Hat]

It has the longest river in the world. The Nile at some 4,135 miles in length or 6,670 kilometres. No the Amazon is second at 3,980 miles.
Just in case you asked
Hat

[tcvarlh]

The Cameroon also boasts of the world's oddest frog The Hairy Frog Trichobatrachus robustus (thanks Gerry Durrell, you got me into this life)

also found this just as I was making certain of the taxomy:

'Horror frog' breaks own bones to produce claws
"Amphibian horror" isn't a movie genre, but on this evidence perhaps it should be. Harvard biologists have described a bizarre, hairy frog with cat-like extendable claws.
Trichobatrachus robustus actively breaks its own bones to produce claws that puncture their way out of the frog's toe pads, probably when it is threatened.
David Blackburn and colleagues at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, think the gruesome behaviour is a defence mechanism.
The researchers say there are salamanders that force their ribs through their skin to produce protective barbs on demand, but nothing quite like this mechanism has been seen before.
The feature is also found in nine of the 11 frogs belonging to the Astylosternus genus, most of which live in Cameroon.
Instant weapon
"Some other frogs have bony spines that project from their wrist, but in those species it appears that the bones grow through the skin rather than pierce it when needed for defence," says Blackburn.
At rest, the claws of T. robustus, found on the hind feet only, are nestled inside a mass of connective tissue. A chunk of collagen forms a bond between the claw's sharp point and a small piece of bone at the tip of the frog's toe.
The other end of the claw is connected to a muscle. Blackburn and his colleagues believe that when the animal is attacked, it contracts this muscle, which pulls the claw downwards. The sharp point then breaks away from the bony tip and cuts through the toe pad, emerging on the underside.
Hirsute horror
The end result may look like a cat's claw, but the breaking and cutting mechanism is very different and unique among vertebrates. Also unique is the fact that the claw is just bone and does not have an outer coating of keratin like other claws do.
Because Blackburn has only studied dead specimens, he says he does not know what happens when the claw retracts - or even how it retracts. It does not appear to have a muscle to pull it back inside so the team think it may passively slide back into the toe pad when its muscle relaxes.
"Being amphibians, it would not be surprising if some parts of the wound heal and the tissue is regenerated," says Blackburn.
Males of the species, which grows to about 11 centimetres, also produce long hair-like strands of skin and arteries when they breed (see image). It is thought that the "hairs" allow them to take in more oxygen through their skin while they take care of their brood.
Spiky snack
In Cameroon, they are roasted and eaten. Hunters use long spears and machetes to kill the frogs, apparently to avoid being hurt by their claws.
"This is an incredible story," says Ian Stephen, curator of herpetology at the Zoological Society of London, UK. "Some frogs grow spines on their thumbs during breeding season, but this is entirely different."
"For me, it highlights the need for a lot more research on amphibians especially in light of the threat of mass extinctions," he adds.
The existence of frogs with erectile claws like cats was first described by Belgian zoologist George Boulenger in 1900 in frogs found in the French Congo, now the Republic of Congo.

You live and learn