{"id":43,"date":"2025-07-08T05:02:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/?page_id=43"},"modified":"2025-07-08T06:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T06:43:17","slug":"plants-and-animals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/plants-and-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Plants and animals"},"content":{"rendered":"<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>The Bez\u00e0 Mahafaly Special Reserve is home to a wide range of endemic plants and animals. It is the only National Protected Area in Madagascar that includes the unique and dramatic gradient from riverine to spiny forest. Wildlife is abundant at Bez\u00e0, with many species endemic to the island and some found only in the south.<\/p>\n<p>Two lemur species (<em>Propithecus verreauxi<\/em>\u00a0,\u00a0<em>Lemur catta<\/em>) leap showily through the forest by day, and eyes gleaming in a flashlight\u2019s beam signal the presence of two species active at night (<em>Lepilemur leucopus\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>Microcebus griseorufus<\/em>). Carnivores are harder to see, but tracks and occasional sightings mark the travels of the endemic, puma-like fosa (<em>Cryptoprocta ferox<\/em>). The rare, termite eating, large-eared tenrec\u00a0<em>Geogale aurita<\/em>\u00a0is found in the dry spiny forest of Bez\u00e0 Mahafaly and is one of four tenrec species at Bez\u00e0.<\/p>\n<p>Close to a hundred species of birds are present year-round or seasonally, including the spectacular giant coua\u00a0<em>(Coua gigas)\u00a0<\/em>and six species from the endemic family Vangidae<em>.<\/em>\u00a0A flourishing population of radiated tortoises (<em>Astrochelys radiata)\u00a0<\/em>and a diversity of chameleons, lizards, and snakes are to be found and, when the river is in flood, the occasional crocodile\u00a0<em>(Crocodylus niloticus)<\/em>. The rich array of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), and ants, wasps and bees (Hymenoptera) have been systematically inventoried, and voucher specimens of many of these invertebrates are archived in the Field Station Museum\u2019s collections.<\/p>\n<p>Along the banks of the Sakamena River, the Bez\u00e0 Mahafaly Special Reserve protects lush forest rooted in soils moistened by its waters. Tamarind trees\u00a0<em>(Tamarindus indica)<\/em>\u00a0are the dominant species here, and with several endemic species\u00a0<em>(e.g. Albizzia polyphylla, Acacia rovumae)\u00a0<\/em>they form a closed canopy \u2013 and a plentiful source of food for many animals.<\/p>\n<p>The west of the Reserve encompasses great stands of spiny forest, the hallmark of southern Madagascar found nowhere else in the world. Plants display a wide range of adaptations to arid conditions: seasonal loss or year-round absence of leaves\u00a0<em>(Terminalia\u00a0<\/em>spp<em>., Commiphora\u00a0<\/em>spp<em>.; Euphorbia tirucalli)<\/em>, succulent leaves\u00a0<em>(Kalanchoe\u00a0<\/em>spp<em>.),\u00a0<\/em>spines (<em>Alluaudia procera),<\/em>\u00a0and tubers\u00a0<em>(Dioscorea\u00a0<\/em>spp<em>.).\u00a0<\/em>Altogether, the Reserve harbors over 450 plant species from 79 families. Voucher specimens for a majority of plant species are housed at the Field Station Herbarium.<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"http:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Beza-Mahafaly-species-list-20121.pdf\">here<\/a> for a list of flora species at Bez\u00e0 Mahafaly Reserve.<\/p>\n<p>Click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200712053939\/https:\/\/campuspress.yale.edu\/bezamahafaly\/files\/2016\/07\/List-of-faunal-spp.-May-2016-100ukp0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>\u00a0for a list of faunal species at Bez\u00e0 Mahafaly Special Reserve.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bez\u00e0 Mahafaly Special Reserve is home to a wide range of endemic plants and animals. It is the only National Protected Area in Madagascar that includes the unique and dramatic gradient from riverine to spiny forest. Wildlife is abundant &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/plants-and-animals\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-43","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127,"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43\/revisions\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essagro.mg\/bezamahafaly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}