The East Sudanian savanna is a hot area in Central and East Africa. It is a tropical savanna that gets dry during certain times of the year.

Geography

The East Sudanian savanna is the eastern part of the Sudanian savanna region. This region stretches east and west across Africa. The eastern part is located east of the Cameroon Highlands and west of the Ethiopian Highlands. To the north lies the Sahel belt, which is a drier area covered with acacia savanna. Beyond the Sahel is the Sahara Desert. To the south, there are more humid areas where forests and savannas mix together.

The Sudd flooded grasslands in South Sudan divide the region into two parts: eastern and western. The land is mostly flat, though there are some hilly areas near Lake Albert and in western Ethiopia.

• The western part includes parts of northern Cameroon, southernmost Chad, northern Central African Republic, and southeastern South Sudan. It is bordered to the south by the Northern Congolian forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion.
• The eastern part is found in a region that stretches from northern Uganda along the Ethiopia–Sudan border. It is bordered on the east by the western lowlands of Ethiopia, on the southeast by the Northern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets ecoregion, on the south by the Victoria Basin forest–savanna mosaic in Uganda, and on the southwest by the Northern Congolian forest–savanna mosaic.

Climate

The climate has two main types: tropical savanna and hot semi-arid. These climates have a dry season and a wet season. Temperatures are warm or hot all year.

Flora

Common plants include deciduous Terminalia trees. Shrubs and grasses such as Combretum and tall elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) grow beneath these trees. More than 1,000 plant species are found only in this area.

Fauna

Threatened species are the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Chad and the Central African Republic, the East African wild dog (Lycaon pictus lupinus), the Northeast African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii), the African leopard (Panthera pardus paruds), the lion (Panthera leo), and the giant eland (Taurotragus derbianus).

Urban areas and settlements

In Cameroon, the region is connected to the North Region, which includes Bénoué National Park and Bouba Njida National Park. These parks are home to some of the endangered species described earlier. In Chad, the East Sudanian savanna covers the southern part of the country. This area includes Moundou, Chad's second-largest city, the oil town of Doba, and the cotton-growing towns of Sarh and Pala. In the Central African Republic, the region includes the sparsely populated northern part of the country, where Bossangoa is a larger town. In Sudan, the East Sudanian savanna is found west of the Sudd swamp, covering the Bahr el Ghazal area, including the town of Wau. To the east of the Sudd, the ecoregion stretches from northern Uganda, through southeastern Sudan east of the White Nile (including areas near Juba and Torit in Eastern Equatoria), and along the Ethiopia–Sudan border. Many parts of this area have experienced fighting in recent years and are now undergoing rebuilding efforts.

Threats and preservation

Seasonal farming and herding are ways of life that cause people in the savanna to overgraze, cut down trees for firewood or charcoal, and start fires. This has greatly reduced the woodland. However, large areas of untouched habitat still exist outside protected areas, especially when compared to the more densely populated West Sudanian savanna.

Poaching is another issue. In fact, the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) were once native to the ecoregion but have been hunted to extinction.

Protected areas

24.68% of the ecoregion is located in protected areas. These protected areas include Bouba Njida National Park in Cameroon, Bamingui-Bangoran National Park and Biosphere Reserve, Andre Felix National Park, and Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park in the Central African Republic, Zakouma National Park in Chad, Gambella National Park in Ethiopia, Dinder National Park and Radom National Park in Sudan, Boma National Park and Kidepo Game Reserve in South Sudan, and Kidepo Valley National Park in Uganda.

Most protected areas do not have enough resources, and except for hunting for sport in the Central African Republic, there is not much tourism that involves wildlife.