Ever wanted to know more about the environment and wildlife of Zambia? Well this is as good a place as any to start. Find out more about everything around us and you might be surprised about what you find.
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Mammals
This group of the animal kingdom have the general characteristics of being warm-blooded vertebrates which means that they have backbones. They also give birth to live, dependent young whose mothers must feed them with milk. Finally, most mammals are either furry or hairy in some way. In Zambia alone there are over 240 wild mammal species that have been officially recorded and identified.
Birds
With Zambia being such a big place it has a wide range of habitats. This means that the places where animals can live are different depending on where you are in the country. So whilst it is quite sandy in the Western Province it is very wet in and around the Bangweulu swamps. With such a variety of places to live in it is no surprise then that Zambia has a lot of different bird species living within its borders. At the last count there were 740 different species of birds in Zambia alone! To find out a bit about some of these species check out this section.
Reptiles, Amphibians and Fishes
As a group reptiles include tortoises, turtles, crocodiles, lizards and snakes. All of these have lungs, scaly skin and, apart from the snake, two pairs of walking legs (four legs in all). The females usually lay eggs that have tough shells which will protect the young inside. Some reptiles, like the crocodile, are semi-aquatic which means that they spend some of their time in the water.
Amphibians include newts, salamanders, frogs and toads. This lot have lungs, typically two pairs of legs, soft skin not scales and will generally lay soft eggs that aren't as tough as a reptiles. Although they are aquatic (live in the water) they still have to breath air which is why they have lungs.
Fish typically have jaws, bony skeletons, gills and are normally covered with flat scales. Bony fishes are entirely aquatic and have no lungs. This means that they live under water and instead of lungs, use gills to 'breath' by getting oxygen from the water.
Insects
Insects are animals with three pairs of legs, and are the only animals without a backbone which can fly. The body has a hard covering called the exoskeleton, to which all the muscles are attached. This is unlike other animals, such as man, which have an internal skeleton. Around the world there are a million or more species of insects that have been described, and yet there are still species that have yet to be found and recorded!
Trees, Plant's and Flowers
To us and the environment trees are very useful things. Although we often take it for granted they provide shade, prevent soil erosion, ensure good water supplies, enrich the soil and act as homes for loads of animals. As humans we use their wood, eat their fruit and get from them medicines, paper, rope and much, much more. However, endless and unplanned deforestation is taking away many of these benefits, not just from us but from everything else that trees help. This is why replanting and governed deforestation is important.