Kenya Safari Guide > Mount Kenya > Ecosystem
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Ecosystem

The distribution of flora and fauna depends highly on the rainfall patterns. Rainfall influences the distribution of the alpine and sub alpine vegetation. The dry upland forest in the north east and south western end, found between 1200-1850M gets 2500mm of rainfall yearly while the western slopes area that cover the Naru moru and the Sirimon tracks get 875-1400mm of rain. In the southeastern end, 2500-3000mm falls annually in the thick bamboo forest. This diminishes as the bamboo forest becomes less prominent at 2500-2600mm and down towards the Northwestern end, 2400mm of rainfall shower the greenland below. Cold temperatures reign above3000m of heath and shrubs with trees increasingly becoming shorter, exposing a lose canopy of moss infested trees and grassy glades. At (3400-3800mm) the thick humus layer and low vegetation tussock grasses get heavy rainfall upon and afro- alpine moorland zone. The multi faceted upper zone (3800-4500m) has peculiar species of plants e.g. the giant rosette plants, which also ravage the lower zones. Big game such as lions, leopards and a few rhinos are found among the hyrax, duikers, hyenas, zebras and different smaller animals.


Climate

It is hot and wet through out the year with good daytime temperatures, the nights being drastically cold during the dry season. The long rainfall of the April /June season makes game viewing and access difficult. The November /December season brings to its wake warmth with occasional short rains.

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