Editing Zambezi (section)

===Ecology of the delta===
{{main|Zambezian coastal flooded savanna}}
[[File:Zambezi River Delta.jpg|thumb|300px|Annotated view of the Zambezi River Delta from space<ref>{{cite web |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82361 |title=Zambezi River Delta : Image of the Day |date=29 August 2013 |website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |access-date=12 December 2013 |archive-date=6 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106173513/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82361 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Zambezi Barotse floodplain.jpg|thumb|NASA false-colour image of the upper Zambezi and [[Barotseland|Barotse]] (Balozi) floodplain during an extreme flood in 2003]]
The Zambezi Delta has extensive seasonally and permanently flooded grasslands, savannas, and swamp forests. Together with the floodplains of the [[Buzi River (Mozambique)|Buzi]], [[Pungwe River|Pungwe]], and [[Save River (Africa)|Save]] Rivers, the Zambezi's floodplains make up the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wildlife Fund]]'s [[Zambezian coastal flooded savanna]] [[ecoregion]] in Mozambique. The flooded savannas lie close to the Indian Ocean coast. [[East African mangroves|Mangroves]] fringe the delta's shoreline.

Although the dams have stemmed some of the annual flooding of the lower Zambezi and caused the area of floodplain to be greatly reduced, they have not removed flooding completely. They cannot control extreme floods, and they have only made medium-level floods less frequent. When heavy rain in the lower Zambezi combines with significant runoff upstream, massive floods still happen, and the wetlands are still an important habitat. The shrinking of the wetlands, though, resulted in uncontrolled hunting of animals such as [[African buffalo|buffalo]] and [[waterbuck]] during the [[Mozambican Civil War]].

Although the region has had a reduction in the populations of the large mammals, it is still home to some, including the [[reedbuck]] and migrating [[common eland|eland]]. Carnivores found here include [[lion]] (''Panthera leo''), [[leopard]] (''Panthera pardus''), [[cheetah]] (''Acinonyx jubatus''), [[spotted hyena]] (''Crocuta crocuta''), and [[side-striped jackal]] (''Canis adustus''). The floodplains are a haven for migratory waterbirds, including [[northern pintail|pintails]], [[garganey]], [[African openbill]] (''Anastomus lamelligerus''), [[saddle-billed stork]] (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis''), [[wattled crane]] (''Bugeranus carunculatus''), and [[great white pelican]] (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'').<ref name = wwf>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Zambezian coastal flooded savanna|id=at0906}}</ref>

Reptiles include [[Nile crocodile]] (''Crocodylus niloticus''), [[Nile monitor]] lizard (''Varanus niloticus''), [[Python sebae|African rock python]] (''Python sebae''), the endemic Pungwe worm snake (''Leptotyphlops pungwensis''), and three other snakes that are nearly endemic - floodplain water snake (''Lycodonomorphus whytei obscuriventris''), dwarf wolf snake (''Lycophidion nanus''), and swamp viper (''[[Proatheris]]'').<ref name = wwf/>

Several butterfly species are endemic.
{{gallery|mode=packed|align=center
|Image:Zambezi delta.jpg|The Zambezi's delta
|Image:ISS009-E-7622- Zambezi river near Mongu.jpg|The river and its floodplain near Mongu in Zambia
|Image:Zambezi Flood Plain, Namibia (MODIS).jpg|Water is black in this false-colour image of the Zambezi flood plain.
|Image:Zambezi Flood Plain, Namibia (EO-1).jpg|This detailed true-colour image shows the stark eastern edge of the Zambezi floodplain.
}}