CATALOGUE OF THE MAMMALS OF ETHIOPIA

Abstract

SUMMARY The present work completes the systematic treatment of Ethiopian mammals, commenced in 1973, by considering a diverse assemblage of species which presents the mammalogist with two quite distinct problems. Most of the larger forms are relatively free from taxonomic complexities, at least at the specific level, but rapidly declining in numbers as a result of drought, widespread destruction of natural habitat and inadequately controlled hunting. It appears that conservable stocks of pure-bred African Wild ass, Equus africanus (Fitzinger, 1857), now exist only in the Danakil region of Ethiopia, where the population is estimated to number no more than 2–3,000 head, while the herds of E. grevyi Oustalet, 1882 have been severely depleted during the past decade, both in this country and in neighbouring Kenya. The African Elephant, Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797), now occupies only remnants of its former range in Ethiopia and the position of the small Somali-arid race, L. a. orleansi Lydekker, 1907, ...