THE SAVANNAH REGION
The savannah also known as Sudan Climate is a transitional type of climate found between Tropical Rainforest and Desert. It is confined with the tropics and is best developed in the Sudan, where dry and wet seasons are most distinct, hence the name Sudan Climate. The Sudan climate is characterized by alternate hot, rainy season and cool, dry season. In the northern hemisphere for example Kano, Nigeria, rainy season is normally between May and September. The length of the rainfall and the annual total rainfall decreases appreciably towards the desert fringes. In the southern hemisphere (e.g. Harare in Zimbabwe) on the other hand, the rainy season is from October to March. Days are usually hot with temperatures reaching up to 38ºC at noon, and drops below 10ºC at night.
The tall grass and short scattered trees of the Savannah is the product of a tropical wet and dry climate. Both plants and trees are deciduous in nature, having long roots used for borrowing in search for groundwater or broad trunks used to store up excess water. Example of the trees include; Baobab, Acacias, and Gum Arabic etc. However, changes in season affects the appearance of the vegetation, where it appears green and fresh in the rainy season, but turns yellowish-brown during the dry season.
The savannah is the home of wild animals, where thousands of animals are trapped or killed each year for their skins, horns, tusks, bones or hair and turned into by-products by several industries around the globe. Others are captured alive and sent out of Africa as Zoo animals, pets and so on. The animals can be grouped into two main groups; the plant-eating herbivorous animals such as Zebra, Antelope, Gazelle, Elephant and so on, and the fresh-eating carnivorous animals such as Lion, Hyena, and Panther etc. In many parts of the Savannah, particularly East and South Africa, national parks have been setup which controls the killing of animals. These game reserves also serve as tourist attraction sites, good examples include; Kenya, Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State, Wikki Springs and Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State among others.
The savannah region is however faced with issues of destruction of crops by pests and desertification due to drought or land misuse which can be corrected through development prospects such as Land Conservation.
By: Fatima Al Nasir
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