Category: Victoria

The search by Europeans for the source of the Nile led to the sighting of the lake by the British explorer John Hanning Speke in 1858. Formerly known to the Arabs as Ukerewe, the lake was named by Speke in honour of Queen Victoria of England. Why is the largest lake in Africa named Victoria? […]

The area around Lake Victoria is the most densely populated rural region in the world. The region’s 30 million residents rely on the lake for food, transportation, power, and income from tourism. Why is Lake Victoria so big? Plans for gradually raising the level of the lake’s waters were completed in 1954 with the construction […]

The High Country is a region of the state of Victoria. It extends down from the wine regions in the mid north-east of the state to the alpine regions to their south. What towns are in the high country in Victoria? Discover the taste of history with a fresh palate in Rutherglen, a historic wine […]

The large, browsing and grazing marsupials such as the Common Wombat, Red-necked Wallaby, Swamp Wallaby and Eastern Grey Kangaroo are found here – all common through- out the Australian Alps. Except for wombats and echidnas, larger mammals are generally absent from the alpine zone. How many animal species live in the Alps? 30,000 animal speciesWith […]

The Nile perch. The Nile perch is an invasive species. This means that the fish is not a natural part of the ecology of Lake Victoria. The lake’s cichlids have no defense against the unfamiliar predator. What two invasive species are taking over Lake Victoria in Uganda? Invasive species has caused a lot of problems […]

Victorian waters are home to at least seven varieties of sharks, according to Fisheries Victoria. These include heavyweights like the seven-metre, three-tonne great whites but also smaller relatives of the shark family like the iridescent elephant sharks that don’t grow past 1.5 metres. Are there bull sharks in Lake Victoria? Fortunately, bull sharks and tiger […]

Summary. Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater body in the world. Over the last four decades, however, the lake has faced a number of environmental problems, including pollution, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction and soil erosion. What is happening to Lake Victoria? The team’s research showed that the lake also dried out at least once […]

Some of Lake Victoria’s cichlids nibble plants; others feed on invertebrates; big ones feast on other fish; lake bottom lovers consume detritus. Species vary in length from a few centimeters to about 30 centimeters; come in an array of shapes, colors, and patterns; and dwell in different parts of the lake. How big do Victorian […]

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately 59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi), Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area, the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America. What makes Lake Victoria unique? “Lake […]

The decline in fish species in Lake Victoria is one of the largest documented losses of biodiversity in an ecosystem. The reduction in species in the lake was attributed to overexploitation through increased fishing capacity, use of illegal fishing gears and poor enforcement of regulations. What causes death of fish in Lake Victoria? “Kenya Marine […]