Ambohitantely Reserve


Ambohitantely Reserve or Ambohitantely Special Reserve is a wildlife reserve of Madagascar.

Geography

This reserve is situated in Analamanga region, north-west of the town of Antananarivo in the district of Ankazobe.
It covers of primary rainforests and of grassland savannah. It consists of several sections of the last primary rainforest, on the high plateau in central Madagascar, along with grasslands, caves and waterfalls, at an altitude of to. The mean annual rainfall is. The entrance to the reserve is on route 4, near the village of Arazana and the nearest hotel is at Ankazobe.
The ethnic groups living in and around the reserve are the Betsileo, Betsimisaraka, and Merina peoples.

Flora and fauna

The main habitats of the reserve are primary rainforests and grassland savannah. The black-bark tree, Fanola is registered as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, and Schizolaena tampoketsana with its twisted fissured trunk is believed to have only 160–370 mature individuals in existence. Sihara palm, Manambe palm, and rosewood are all registered as vulnerable species
Three lemur species are found in the reserve: brown mouse lemur , eastern woolly lemur, and common brown lemur. Rare birds found in the reserve include the Malagasy harrier and Madagascan ibis. The frog Anodonthyla vallani'' is likely occurs only within the reserve.

Threats

The area is threatened with Slash-and-burn agriculture and irrigation for rice paddies.