English 
አማርኛ 1. Domestic animal diversity
Ethiopia has served as a gateway to domestic animals from Asia to Africa and its diverse ecology favored diversification of these resources. In terms of livestock population, Ethiopia stands first in Africa and 10th in the world in livestock population. The domestic animal population of the country is estimated to be 47.5 million cattle, 26.1 million sheep, 21.7 million goat, 1 million camel, 39.6 million chickens, 1.8 million horses, 0.4 million mules and 5.6 million donkeys.
2. Terrestrial wild animal diversity
Ethiopia is also endowed with diverse wild animal species, some of which are endemic to the political boundary of the country. There are about 284 species of mammals (Afework Bekele, pers. comm.), 861 species of birds, 201 species of reptiles (over 87 snakes, 101 lizards and 13 species of tortoises and turtles), 188 species of fish, 324 butterflies and 63 species of amphibians.
3. Aquatic wild animal diversity
There are about 30 major lakes, 12 major river basins and over 70 wetlands that are located in different ecological zones of Ethiopia. There are 188 fish species, 91 benthic and aquatic insects and 141 zooplankton species recorded so far from Ethiopia.