The "Chewbacca" bat, a cave-dwelling frog, bombardier beetles that unleash explosive farts as a defense mechanism, and a diminutive elephant shrew were among hundreds of species documented during a one-month survey of a park that was ravaged during Mozambique's 17-year civil war. The findings suggest that biodiversity in Gorongosa National Park in Central Mozambique is well on the road towards recovery, opening a new chapter for the 4,000-square-kilometer protected area.
Between April 15th and May 15th 2013, a team of 15 scientists conducted an inventory of plants and animals on the Cheringoma Plateau in the eastern part of Gorongosa. The researchers used a variety of methods, including pitfall traps, mist nets, pheromone traps, remote cameras, and ultrasonic sound detectors, to document the area's plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, ants, grasshoppers, katydids, and praying mantids. Overall the expedition turned up 1,200 species of animals and plants on the Cheringoma Plateau, including dozens of species never before documented by science.
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