The Makay Massif is a mountain range in western

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 ...

Geography and geology

The Makay Massif is situated in the district of Beroroha in the south and Malaimbandy in its north, in the south-east of Madagascar. It covers an area of approximately 4000 km². It extends north-northeast–south-southwest for approximately 150 km, and is up to 50 km wide. The massif reaches up to 1000 meters elevation. It is deeply dissected by sinuous canyons. It forms part of the boundary between

Atsimo-Andrefana Region Atsimo-Andrefana (South West) is a region of Madagascar. It borders Menabe in north, Amoron'i Mania and Haute Matsiatra in northeast, Ihorombe and Anosy in east and Androy in southeast. The capital is Toliara and the population was 1,799,088 in 2 ...

on the south and east and Menabe Region on the west and north.Le massif du Makay – Aire Protégée du Makay
Accessed 22 November 2022. Several rivers have their springs in the massif. The

Sakeny River The Sakeny River is a river in Western Madagascar. It is a tributary of the Tsiribihina River. The Sakeny originates on the northern Makay Massif in northern Beroroha District of Atsimo-Andrefana Region. It flows northward through the north–s ...

rises from the northeastern massif and flows northward to join the

Tsiribihina River The Tsiribihina is a river of western Madagascar. The main tributaries are the Mahajilo, Manandaza, Mania, and Sakeny rivers. Its basin has an area of 49,800 km2. 7,025 km2 is in the basin of the Sakeny River, 14,500 km2 in that of the Mahaj ...

. Tributaries of the

Mangoky River The Mangoky River is a 564-kilometer-long (350 mi) river in Madagascar in the regions of Atsimo-Andrefana and Anosy. It is formed by the Mananantanana and the Matsiatra. Another important affluent is the Zomandao River. It rises in the ...

, including the Makay River, drain the southeastern and southern slopes of the massif. The

Morondava Morondava (, from "long coast") is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morondava River at . Its population as of the 2018 census, was 53,510. Population The predominant ...

and Maharivo rise from the western slope, and empty westwards into the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coa ...

.Aldegheri, M. (1972). Rivers and Streams on Madagascar. In: Battistini, R., Richard-Vindard, G. (eds) ''Biogeography and Ecology in Madagascar''. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7159-3_8 Rivers of Makay Mountains OSM

The massif's bedrock is principally Isalo II mudstones and sandstones, also known as the Makay Formation. The formation include fossils of

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

period.Brenon, P. (1972). The Geology of Madagascar. In: Battistini, R., Richard-Vindard, G. (eds) ''Biogeography and Ecology in Madagascar''. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7159-3_2

Flora and fauna

The ridges and plateaus generally have sparse vegetation, with species of

Didiereaceae Didiereaceae is a family of flowering plants found in continental Africa and Madagascar. It contains 20 species classified in three subfamilies and six genera. Species of the family are succulent plants, growing in sub-arid to arid habitats. Seve ...

and

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

adapted to the thin soils and dry conditions, and some patches of dry forest. In contrast the canyons are home to lush forests, including stands of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

'', and the palms ''

Ravenea rivularis ''Ravenea rivularis'', the majestic palm, or majesty palm, is a species of tree in the family Arecaceae. They generally grow to 10 to 12 feet tall and are often marketed in stores as a "houseplant" in a pot, in its natural state, the majesty palm ...

'' and '' Ravenea lakatra''.Fromont C, Blanco J, Culas C, Pannier E, Razafindrakoto M, et al. (2022) Towards an inclusive nature conservation initiative: Preliminary assessment of stakeholders’ representations about the Makay region, Madagascar. PLOS ONE 17(8): e0272223. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272223 Native lemurs include the red-fronted lemur (''Eulemur rufifrons''),

Verreaux's sifaka Verreaux's sifaka (''Propithecus verreauxi''), or the white sifaka, is a medium-sized primate in one of the lemur families, the Indriidae. Critically Endangered, it lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest to ...

(''Propithecus verreauxi''), Coquerel's giant mouse lemur (''Mirza coquereli''),

gray mouse lemur The gray mouse lemur (''Microcebus murinus''), grey mouse lemur or lesser mouse lemur is a small lemur, a type of strepsirrhine primate, found only on the island of Madagascar. Weighing , it is the largest of the mouse lemurs (genus ''Microcebu ...

(''Microcebus murinus''),

fat-tailed dwarf lemur The fat-tailed dwarf lemur (''Cheirogaleus medius''), also known as the lesser dwarf lemur, western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, or spiny forest dwarf lemur, is endemic to Madagascar. The fat-tailed dwarf lemur is long from its head to the end of i ...

(''Cheirogaleus medius''), ''Phaner'' cf. ''pallescens'', ''Lepilemur'' cf. ''ruficaudatus'', and

ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a medium- to larger-sized strepsirrhine (wet-nosed) primate and the most internationally recognized lemur species, owing to its long, black-and-white, ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of fiv ...

(''Lemur catta'').Dolch, Rainer & Ratsisetraina, Rita & Markolf, Matthias & Ratolojanahary, Tiana & Rakotonirina, Hanitriniaina & Louis, Edward & Wendenbaum, Evrard. (2011). Assessment of lemur diversity in the Makay massif. ''Lemur news''. Volume 16. 48-53. It is also home to the fossa (''Cryptoprocta ferox''), Madagascar's largest native carnivore.

People

The deeply dissected topography makes the massif mostly impassable. The massif is largely uninhabited, and residents mostly live in villages of 500 or fewer people at the edges of the massif. Herding

zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus''), also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of Bos taurus, domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu, like many Sanga cattle breeds, differs from taurine cattle by a fatty hump ...

cattle is an important occupation for inhabitants, and they also rely on forest resources from the massif.

Access

The road to Beroroha ( National Road 15) is unpaved and can only been taken by 4x4 cars.

References

{{coord missing, Madagascar Mountains of Madagascar Atsimo-Andrefana Menabe Madagascar subhumid forests