PHOTOS: Wild Africa Honored on World Environment Day

Mountain Gorilla Portrait

Photograph by Selina Strong, My Shot

A female mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) presents a familiar face of Rwanda—the global host nation for 2010’s World Environment Day (WED).

Bushmen Silhouettes

Photograph by Chris Johns, National Geographic

Bushmen, armed with bows and arrows, cross a shimmering salt pan during a traditional hunt in Namibia. But this timeless scene is just a ghostly echo of a 20,000-year-old tradition. Those who live in Namibia’s Nyae Nyae conservation area typically wear Western clothes—except when displaying their culture for tourists. The San tribe once relied on hunting and gathering and are a rare living link to an ancient era of human existence. But few San remain today and their ancient lifestyle has largely eroded. Without much land, most bushmen must rely on government aid.

Congo Canoeists

Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic

Rivers provide a transportation lifeline in the Republic of the Congo and throughout the leafy green expanse of the Congo rain forest. The Congo Basin is home to the world’s second-largest rain forest (after the Amazon) and an astounding collection of biological diversity that humans have only begun to comprehend. Many unknown species dwell in and under these trees, as do better-known animals like the African forest elephant, the okapi, and the bonobo—our closest living relative.

Elephant at Kilimanjaro

Photograph by Kevin Smith, My Shot

The plains of Kenya's Amboseli National Park offer a spectacular opportunity to see two African icons—a wild elephant and the snowy peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, across the border in Tanzania. The mountain helps to water surrounding grasslands and marshes that entice elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, hippos, rhinos, and other wildlife to the Kenyan preserve—making it a must-see for many safari aficionados.

Niger Delta Channels

Photograph by Ed Kashi, National Geographic

The oil and gas industry has left a mark on the Niger Delta that goes far deeper than these pipeline paths cut at Cawthorne Channel. The region is Nigeria’s economic engine, a center of an oil industry responsible for some 85 percent of the government’s revenue, according to World Bank estimates. Violence is common in the delta, where local groups use force to demand a greater share of the bounty. Sabotage has often targeted pipelines, causing spills and broadening the industry’s already-troubling environmental footprint.

Nile Fishermen

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic

Fishermen ply the pre-dawn waters of the Nile Delta near Amarna, Egypt. The great river has nourished the Egyptian civilization for centuries, creating a verdant green corridor through the nation’s mostly arid expanse.

After springing from headwaters in Burundi and Ethiopia, the Nile flows 4,040 miles (6,500 kilometers) through ten different nations on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. Some 160 million people depend on its waters for drinking, sanitation, irrigation, power, and more.

Red Dune, Green Tree

Photograph by Michael Poliza, National Geographic

Sossusvlei’s sand dunes, in Namibia, are among the most spectacular in the world. In the Nama tongue, Sossusvlei is dubbed “the gathering place of water.” But modern Namibians and visitors typically find a clay pan at the terminus of the often-empty Tsauchab River, which supports trees by infrequent floods. The site is surrounded by the towering dunes and some 21,235 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) of stunning Namib Desert.

Local animals have adapted techniques to live in the desert’s extreme climate, including absorbing moisture from mists spawned on the seacoast 44 miles (70 kilometers) away.

Leaping, Swimming Wildebeests

Photograph by Michael Poliza, National Geographic

Wildebeests storm across Kenya’s Mara River during an annual migration that’s epic even by Africa’s lofty standards. Each year more than a million wildebeests, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of zebras, gazelles, and other animals, head for greener grazing pastures. At the end of the rainy season they move from their calving grounds on Tanzania’s Serengeti Plain north to Kenya. The animals return later in the year to complete a 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) round trip.

Drinking Elephants

Photograph by Kevin Arnold, National Geographic

Elephants young and old gather to slake their thirst at a water hole in Masai Mara, Kenya. The massive mammals also employ their trunks to provide a self-cooling shower. At 5,000 to 14,000 pounds (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms) these African giants are the largest land animals on Earth—a bit bigger than their Asian relatives. Female and young elephants are usually seen in herds like those congregating at this water hole.

Okavango Giraffe

Photograph by Jodi Cobb, National Geographic

A giraffe roams Botswana’s Okavango Delta, one of Earth’s largest inland deltas. The massive “aquatic jungle” is created where the Okavango River spills into the sands at the edge of the Kalahari Desert. The green oasis is swelled each year by seasonal rains in the highlands of Angola—some 500 miles (805 kilometers) upstream, and becomes a lush wildlife haven half the size of Lake Erie.

Gorilla and Ranger

Photograph by Brent Stirton, National Geographic

A ranger keeps watch over mountain gorillas—and vice versa—in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The gorillas live in thick, cloudy forests at altitudes up to 13,000 feet (4,000 meters)

Though mountain gorillas remain perilously close to extinction, their populations have actually increased, largely due to intense protection afforded them by national parks in Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. Similar efforts will be necessary to preserve much of what makes African biodiversity so special.