The Matthews (or Mathews) Range, also known as the Lenkiyio Hills, is a range of mountains in

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. ...

Geography

The range is about 150 km long, oriented north–south. It is located in the

Laikipia district Laikipia District was a district of Kenya, located on the Equator in the Rift Valley Province of the country. The district had two major urban centres: Nanyuki to the southeast, and Nyahururu to the southwest. Its capital was Nanyuki. After being ...

of the

Rift Valley Province Rift Valley Province () of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the 2013 Kenyan general election. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces in Kenya. It was dominated ...

in northern

. The town of Wamba lies at the southeastern edge of the range.Rough Guide Map to Kenya

Peaks

The highest point is Warges, at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, a peak located the southern end of the range, separated by a valley from the rest of the range. There is also a

breast-shaped hill Some breast-shaped hills are named "wikt:pap#Etymology 2, pap", an archaic word for the breast or nipple of a woman, particularly those with a small hilltop protuberance. Such anthropomorphic geographic features are found in different parts of t ...

locally known as Sweet Sixteen in the range.

Table

Ecology

The area is isolated, and holds

montane forests Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

African juniper ''Juniperus procera'' (known by the common English names African juniper, African pencil-cedar, East African juniper, East African-cedar, and Kenya-cedar) is a coniferous tree native to mountainous areas in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It i ...

(''Juniperus procera'') and

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

s. It is home to

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

s and other large

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s, and was one of the last places in northern Kenya to have wild Black Rhinos. The last Black Rhino in the Mathew's was poached out in the 1990s. The Mathew's are also home to the

Samburu people The Samburu are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic people of north-central Kenya. Traditionally, they are semi-nomadic pastoralists who primarily herd cattle but also keep sheep, goats and camels. They refer to themselves as Lokop or Loikop, a term with ...

. The

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

is a

sky island Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has s ...

: surrounded by plains, with

Ndoto Mountains The Ndoto Mountains are a mountain range in northern Kenya. Like Mount Nyiru to the north and the Mathews Range to the south, the Ndoto Mountains consist of Precambrian crystalline basement rock, mostly extremely durable gneisses and granites. ...

to the north and the Karisia hills to the west. A number of the species in the Mathew's have evolved independently and the diversity of the forest is of great conservation value. Part has been designated as a

wildlife sanctuary 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 geolog ...

. Mathews Range Forest Reserve was established in 1956, and covers an area of 973.92 km².UNEP-WCMC (2024)
Protected Area Profile for Mathews Range
from the World Database on Protected Areas. Retrieved 5 June 2024. In 1995, a Trust was formed by the Samburu tribes to preserve the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, which remains one of the most successful community conservation programs in Kenya.

References

Mountain ranges of Kenya East African montane forests {{RiftValleyKE-geo-stub