The Bale Mountains are a critically important area for a number of threatened Ethiopian endemic species. The Afroalpine area is home to over half of the global population of Ethiopian wolf, the rarest canid in the world, whereas the northern juniper-Hagenia woodlands harbour the largest population of the endemic and similarly endangered mountain nyala.
Ethiopian Wolves. Photo by Delphin Ruche.
Less obviously 26% of Ethiopia’s endemic species (including one primate, one bovid, one hare, eight species of rodent, and the entire global population of the giant molerat) can be found in the park. Six of the 18 birds endemic to Ethiopia can be found in Bale Mountains National Park, as well as 11 of the 14 birds endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
There are also several rare and endemic amphibian species found only in Bale, as well as over 1,300 species of flowering plants, 163 of which are endemic to Ethiopia (12 percent), and 23 to Bale alone (14 percent of Ethiopia’s endemic plants).
BMNP Species by Numbers
These figures represent known species in Bale. It is widely accepted that a significant number of species, in particular amphibian & reptile species, are present in Bale but have yet to be found.
| Mammals | 78 |
| Reptiles | 12 |
| Amphibians | 17 |
| Birds | 310 |
| Flowering plants | 1,300 |
Check out our large and/or commonly seen mammal identification table here.
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