The Lorian Swamp is an area of
wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s on the
Ewaso Ngiro river in Isiolo North (chari),
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
.
The swampy zone is long and has a greatest width of , covering an area of .
Apart from the Ewaso Ngiro river, the swamp is also fed by wadis from the southwest and the northeast.
The swamp is less than above sea level.
The swamp lies in an arid zone,
with the local annual rainfall averaging between 180 and 250 mm, but varies widely from year to year. It may be much higher in wet years and much lower in dry years, so the area of the swamp varies considerably.
Potential evaporation rates in the swamp are as much as 2,600 mm per year.
The swamp may almost completely dry up in drought periods.
The area of permanent swamp has shrunk from in 1913 to around in 1962 and in 1990.
Little is known about the swamp, due to the hostile terrain and insecurity in the area.
It is not protected.
The swamp is infested with malarial mosquitos and with vectors of the organisms that cause
bilharzia
Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects the urinary tract or the intestines ...
. It is home to
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...
s and is visited by many large savannah mammals.
Because of the dangers, cattle are not grazed far into the swamp, but they do make extensive use of the shallow waters, particularly in the dry season.
References
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{{coords, 0, 38, 46, N, 39, 36, 14, E, display=title
Wetlands of Kenya
Swamps of Africa