Wildlife

The wildlife of Somalia is composed of its flora and fauna. It has 177 species of mammals and 727 species of birds.

Somalia is rich in the larger wild animals among them are the lion (Somali name l’ibah) and elephant, though these have been to a large extent driven from the northern coast districts, the black or double-horned rhinoceros are common in central Ogaden,  leopards are abundant in many districts. Panthers, spotted and striped hyenas (the latter rare), foxes, jackals, badgers,
pangolins, servals and wild dogs; giraffes and a great variety of antelopes are found in Somalia.

The antelopes include the beisa oryx fairly common and widely distributed, the greater and lesser kudu (the greater kudu is not found on the Ogaden plateau) , the Somali hartebeest (Bubalis Swaynef), found only in the Haud and Ogo districts, waterbuck, rare except along the Webi Shebeli and the Nogal; the dol or Somali bushbuck, the dibatag or Clarke’s gazelle; the giraffe-like gerenuk or WaIler’s gazelle, very common, the aoul or Soemmering’s gazelle, widely distributed; the dero (Gazella Speki);
and the small dikdik or sakaro antelope, found in almost every thicket.

The zebra (Equus grevyi) is found in Ogaden and places to the south, the wild ass in the northern regions. There are wart hogs, baboons (maned and maneless varieties), a tree monkey,jumping shrews, two kinds of squirrel, a small hare, and rock rabbits.

However the wildlife of somalia has been interrupted by the two decades of civil unrest in the country.

Wildlife in Somalia has been summarised to include the following

Challenges facing wildlife sub sector in Somalia

Somalia wildlife conservation organisations