Taita Hills
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Mount Kasigau
The Kenyan Taita Hills are the northern foothills of the East African Eastern Arc Mountains. These represent a chain of old mountain ranges and are covered with Regen-/Nebelwäldern and grassland. The Eastern Arc Mountains and thus the Taita Hills originated in the Precambrian. It is assumed that their forests have existed for more than 30 million years ago and were originally linked to those in the Congo Basin and West Africa.
The Taita Hills reach heights of up to 2208 m. To the west of Voi are the massif Dabida (highest peak: Vuria 2208 m) and the Mbololo - backs (1800 m). South of Voi project, the isolated massifs of Mount Kasigau (1520 m) from the surrounding Tsavo plane ( 1641 m) and Mount Sagala. The forests of the Taita Hills are now fragmented only small and strong. Still about 300 ha are covered by forests or forests, representing 90 % forest loss since 1950.
The Taita Hills house ( like other Eastern Arc Mountains ) an unusually high number of rare and / or endemic plant and animal species. Most famous are the three endemic bird species: Taita Thrush (Turdus helleri, cloud forests of the Taita Hills ), the Taita White-eye ( Zosterops silvanus, Taita Hills, Mount Kasigau ) and the Taita fine singer ( Apalis fuscigularis, Dabida ). As an endemic representative other groups may be mentioned as examples the soft rat Praomys taitae, the Taita - purple tongue snake ( Amblyodipsas taitana ) and the Ceropegia Ceropegia verticillata.
Starling in the Taita Hills