Eswatini

Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in southern Africa. The climate and topography are varied, from cool and mountainous highveld to hot and dry lowveld. The natural vegetation is composed of forest - mainly limited to the Highveld and the windward slopes of the Lubombo mountain range - savannah and grassland. Different factors, like soil composition and moisture, result in different vegetation subtypes. Overall, the country has a rich flora, with more than 2,600 species of ferns and flowering plants alone. The distribution of some of these is very limited, occurring only in or around Eswatini. Natural wildlife has been drastically reduced in recent years due to habitat destruction caused by human population expansion, and representative species such as antelope, impala, reedbuck, duiker, waterbuck, wildebeest, kudu, hippo, rhino, elephant, giraffe and zebra are largely found in protected reserves. But smaller mammals - like baboons, monkeys, jackals and mongooses - can still be found, and several species of snakes are widespread. In the Lowveld rivers, crocodiles are also frequent. Avifauna is rich in all habitats and includes both resident and migratory bird populations. Migratory birds come from Central and North Africa, as well as further afield, such as Northern Europe and East Asia for storks, swallows and hawks. Some of the more frequent birds are the barbets, the weaver, various hornbills, the Lilac-Breasted Roller and the Purple-Crested Loerie.