Ethiopia

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Curtis Hart
Posts: 595
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:07 pm
Location: Hillsdale County, Michigan

Ethiopia

Post by Curtis Hart »

It’s been a while since I made post. This one is kind of lazy, but here’s the mammals I was able to get photos of.



My girlfriend Lindsay and I volunteered in Equatorial Guinea for the winter of 2014-15. On the way back we decided to take a 6 week layover in Ethiopia. A coworker, Ashleigh, who was volunteering in Ghana, joined us for most of the time. We were able to see most of the places we wanted with the exception of Gambella, which was expensive to get to, and potentially dangerous due to the civil war in neighboring South Sudan. For the first 23 days we rented a car and driver and toured the southern bird watching route. We mainly targeted mammals and scenery, which our driver took awhile to figure out.
Our first stop was Awash National Park, which is a desert park east of Addis Ababa. There is heavy grazing by local livestock in the park, with little left for the native wildlife. We still managed to see several species of mammals. Birds were spectacular here as well.

Beisa
ImageBeisa by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Soemmering’s Gazelle
ImageSoemmering's Gazelle by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We saw our first Salt’s Dikdiks of the trip.
ImageSalt's Dikdik by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

This was my first Lesser Kudu
ImageLesser Kudu by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We saw a few Black-backed Jackals.
ImageBlack-backed Jackal by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We visited the hot springs in the park and managed to see our one and only Waterbuck of the trip.
ImageWaterbuck by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

One of the park buildings has a night roost for a couple species of bats.
Sundevall’s Leaf-nosed Bat
ImageSundevall's Leaf-nosed Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Egyptian Tomb Bat
ImageEgyptian Tomb Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We then headed north to Ali Deghe reserve, as it is a great place to see Gerenuk, among other mammals.
ImageGeranuk by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Golden Jackal, or African Wolf as it is now called.
ImageGolden Jackal by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Grevy’s Zebra, the rarest species of Zebra, were quite skittish.
ImageGrevy's Zebra by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Between parks we saw a few Hamadryas Baboons.
ImageHamahydras Baboon by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We visited a lodge, but didn’t stay near Ali Deghe and saw a few Common Warthogs.
ImageCommon Warthog by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

At a couple stops along the way we managed to see Gambian Sun Squirrel.
ImageGambian Sun Squirrel by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

As well as a Mauritian Tomb Bat.
ImageMaurition Tomb Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

At Sof Omar Caves we saw several bats as well as some primates.
Large-eared Mastiff Bat
ImageLarge-eared Mastiff Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Egyptian Slit-faced Bat
ImageEgyptian Slit-faced Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Grivet
ImageGrivet by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Our next stop was headquarters of the Bale Mountains National Park at Dinsho.
Common Reedbuck
ImageCommon Reedbuck by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Mountain Nyala
ImageMountain Nyala by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
ImageMountain Nyala 02 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We then headed up to the Senetti Plateau, with it’s abundant rodents.
ImageBale Mountains Rodents by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Ethiopian Mole Rat
ImageEthiopian Mole Rat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Starck’s Hare
ImageStarck's Hare by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

And of course, a few Ethiopian Wolves.
ImageEthiopian Wolf by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Coming down the far side we came across a couple of Klipspringers.
ImageKlipspringer by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

In Harenna Forest, we found some Mantled Guereza
ImageGuereza Colobus by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Bale Mountains Monkey
ImageBale Mountains Monkey by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

As we were leaving very early in the morning, we were EXTREMELY lucky and ran into this African Wild Dog.
ImageAfrican Wild Dog by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We drove south east that day and saw some Striped Ground Squirrels.
ImageStriped Ground Squirrel by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

In the evening we went spot lighting and saw a couple Senegal Galagos.
ImageSenegal Galago by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

The next day we came across a couple sounders of Desert Warthog.
ImageDesert Warthog by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We saw Gunther’s Dikdik often in the south.
ImageGunther's Dikdik by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Mago National Park was nice, and we could have spent more time there.
Olive Baboons
ImageOlive Baboon by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Guereza Colobus
ImageGuereza Colobus 2 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Heart-nosed Bats
ImageHeart-nosed Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Common Genet
ImageCommon Gennet by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

At Nechisar National Park we were able to photograph Grant’s Gazelle
ImageGrant's Gazelle by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Plains Zebra
ImagePlains Zebra by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We visited a reserve that is only known for its Swayne’s Hartebeest.
ImageSwayne's Hartebeest by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Oribi
ImageOribi by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Our last morning with a car we went to a lake to check out some Hippos.
ImageHippo by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

We then headed north to the Danicle Depression, mainly to visit Erte Ale. Here’s the volcano.
Image20150416_222823 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
I did manage to see three new mammals.
Speke’s Pectinator, which is an awesome name.
ImageSpeke's Pectinator by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Cairo Mouse
ImageCairo Spiny Mouse by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Dorcas Gazelle
ImageDorcas Gazelle by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

The last stop of the trip was three days of hiking in the Simien Mountains.
We saw lots of Geladas.
ImageGelada 02 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrImageGelada 03 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrImageGelada 04 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
ImageGelada 01 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
ImageGelada 05 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Last mammal of the trip, Walia Ibex.
ImageWalia 01 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
ImageWalia 02 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr

Species List
Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax
Rock Hyrax
Senegal Galgo
Grivet
Vervet
Bale Mountains Monkey
Guereza Colobus
Olive Baboon
Hamadryas Baboon
Gelada
Striped Ground Squirrel
Unstriped Ground Squirrel
Gambian Sun Squirrel
Ethiopian African Mole Rat
Northeast African Spiny Mouse
Black-clawed Brush-furred Rat
Ethiopian Arvicanthis
Blick’s Arvicanthis
Ethiopian Vlei Rat
Speke’s Pectinator
Naked Mole-rat
Crested Porcupine
Abyssinian Hare
Starck’s Hare
Egyptian Rousette
Sundevall’s Leaf-nosed Bat
Heart-nosed Bat
Lesser Mouse-tailed Bat
Mauritian Tomb Bat
Egyptian Tomb Bat
Egyptian Slit-faced Bat
Large-eared Giant Mastiff Bat
Caracal
Serval
Common Genet
Slender Mongoose
Egyptian Mongoose
Common Dwarf Mongoose
White-tailed Mongoose
Golden Jackal
Black-backed Jackal
Ethiopian Wolf
African Wild Dog
Bat-eared Fox
Spotted Hyena
Aardwolf
Plains Zebra
Grevy Zebra
Desert Warthog
Common Warthog
Bush-pig
Hippo
Hartebeest
Dorcas Gazelle
Grant’s Gazelle
Soemmerring’s Gazelle
Gerenuk
Gunther’s Dikdik
Salt’s Dikdik
Klipspringer
Oribi
African Buffalo
Lesser Kudu
Bushbuck
Mountain Nyala
Greater Kudu
Common Reedbuck
Bush Duiker
Waterbuck
Beisa
Walia Ibex
Tamara D. McConnell
Posts: 2248
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:42 am

Re: Ethiopia

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Utterly amazing. Thank you for the vicarious adventure!
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Paul Freed
Posts: 130
Joined: November 10th, 2013, 12:14 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest (Oregon) U.S.

Re: Ethiopia

Post by Paul Freed »

Spectacular post, Curtis! So many wonderful mammals (and that's coming from a herpetologist!), especially all those bats. My wife is a primatologist and has wanted to see Gelada Monkeys for many years. Your photos had her looking up flights to Ethiopia! By the way, was it easy and safe to get around in Ethiopia? Could we PM you for additional info? Again, great post, thanks so much for sharing.
-Paul
User avatar
Curtis Hart
Posts: 595
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:07 pm
Location: Hillsdale County, Michigan

Re: Ethiopia

Post by Curtis Hart »

Thanks for the replies! Paul, Ethiopia is safe and easy to get around feel free to contact me.


curtisfrommichigan at yahoo.com

Check here for detailed info as well. My report is at the bottom.

http://www.mammalwatching.com/Afrotropi ... iopia.html
NACairns
Posts: 372
Joined: December 30th, 2013, 7:27 am

Re: Ethiopia

Post by NACairns »

Outstanding post, I love that you sought out and documented all those mammals, can't see enough of all the rodent and bat diversity. Thank you for sharing.
Best,
Nick
jons
Posts: 23
Joined: August 13th, 2010, 2:04 pm

Re: Ethiopia

Post by jons »

one of the best posts on this forum, especially liked the bats.
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