Zanzibar servaline genet Zanzibar servaline genet The Zanzibar servaline genet ("Genetta servalina archeri") is a recently discovered subspecies of servaline genet endemic to Unguja Island in the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar. Its conservation status is uncertain. The closest known relative of the Zanzibar servaline genet is Lowe's servaline genet, "G. s. lowei", a subspecies which is found in the Eastern Arc Mountains of mainland Tanzania. These two animals have presumably been evolving independently since at least the end of the last ice age, when Unguja was separated from continental Africa by rising sea levels. The survival of the servaline genet on the island
History of Zanzibar Portuguese Empire was the first European power to gain control of Zanzibar, and kept it for nearly 200 years. In 1698, Zanzibar fell under the control of the Sultanate of Oman, which developed an economy of trade and cash crops, with a ruling Arab elite and a Bantu general population. Plantations were developed to grow spices; hence, the moniker of the Spice Islands (a name also used of Dutch colony the Moluccas, now part of Indonesia). Another major trade good was ivory, the tusks of elephants that were killed on the Tanganyika mainland - a practice that is still in