Ambatovaky Special Reserve is a tropical rainforest and

wildlife reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologi ...

in the north-east of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

(). It is designated by

Bird Life International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

for the large number of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species of birds.

Geography

This remote reserve ranges from the north-east coast of Madagascar to the Analamerana karstic plateau with elevations of in the

Soanierana Ivongo District Soanierana Ivongo is a district, which is a part of Analanjirofo Region, Madagascar. The population of the district was estimated to be 143,687 for 2018. Communes The district is further divided into nine communes: * Ambinanisakana * Ambahoa ...

Analanjirofo Analanjirofo is a region in northeastern Madagascar. Until 2009 it was a part of Toamasina Province. It borders Sava Region to the north, Sofia Region to the west, Alaotra-Mangoro Region to the southwest and Atsinanana Region to the south. The c ...

region. It is between the

Marimbona The Marimbona river is located in northern Madagascar and crosses the Route Nationale 5 near Soanierana Ivongo. It has its springs near Andilamena ( Alaotra Mangoro), forms the southern border of the Ambatovaky Reserve, passes Andapafito and fl ...

river, which forms the southern border, and the Simianona river which forms the northern border. The reserve headquarters are in Soanierana Ivongo and the park is only accessible by canoe along the Marimbona River.

Flora and fauna

The reserve is mainly covered by dense deciduous dry forest and is the last place for the

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...

Perrier's sifaka Perrier's sifaka (''Propithecus perrieri'') is a lemur endemic to Madagascar. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of diademed sifaka It has a very small range in northeastern Madagascar where its habitat is dry deciduous or semihumid fo ...

(''Propithecus perrieri''). There are five other species of lemurs found on the reserve. Four have been given the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) and one, the red-bellied lemur ('' Eulemur rubriventer'') is a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

. The four endangered species are the aye-aye ('' Daubentonia madagascariensis''), Indri ('' Indri indri''), Diademed sifaka (''

Propithecus diadema The diademed sifaka (''Propithecus diadema''), or diademed simpona, is an endangered species of sifaka, one of the lemurs endemic to certain rainforests in eastern Madagascar. Along with the indri, this species is one of the two largest living l ...

'') and the black-and-white ruffed lemur ('' Varecia variegata variegata''). Two

carnivores A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

the Malagasy or striped civet ('' Fossa fossana'') and the fossa ('' Cryptoprocta ferox'') are also vulnerable species. The above mammals are all endemic to Madagascar. The white-breasted mesite (''Mesitornis variegata'') is one of the fifty-five species of endemic birds found on the reserve, and is also one with a very restricted distribution, known from only six sites within the country. It is classified as vulnerable. So far ninety-two species of birds have been recorded. Other rare birds are

Van Dam's vanga Van Dam's vanga (''Xenopirostris damii'') is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. Males may be identified by their black hood whereas females have only ...

and the Madagascar pond heron. There are also many amphibians, reptiles and insects. Two species of butterflies on the reserve are '' Papilio mangoura'' and ''

Amauris nossima The Madagascan friar (''Amauris nossima'') is a species of nymphalid butterfly in the Danainae subfamily. It is found on the Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas Fra ...

''; both considered to be vulnerable species.

References

External links

Ambatovaky Parc administration
{{authority control 1956 establishments in Madagascar Analanjirofo Special reserves of Madagascar Protected areas established in 1956 Madagascar subhumid forests Important Bird Areas of Madagascar