History of Zanzibar led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War, also known as the shortest war in history. The islands gained independence from Britain in December 1963 as a constitutional monarchy. A month later, the bloody Zanzibar Revolution, in which several thousand Arabs and Indians were killed and thousands more expelled and expropriated, led to the Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. That April, the republic merged with the mainland Tanganyika, or more accurately, was subsumed into Tanzania, of which Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region. Zanzibar was most recently in the international news with a January 2001 massacre, following contested elections. Zanzibar has been inhabited, perhaps
Wildlife of Zanzibar a sensitive ecosystem, is under threat due to timber extraction, since the 1970s. Conservation measures have been undertaken to preserve the rich biodiversity of the reserve. Kidike Root Site is in the central part of Pemba Island. It has the endangered Pemba flying fox, considered the largest bat species in the world. Other animals in the island are the vervet monkeys, Mozambique cobras, tortoises, bush crabs, red eyed doves and mangrove king fishers. It is located close to Chake. Zanzibar Land Animals and the Park (ZALA) is a small reserve located about from the Jozani National Park. It is where