The range is deeply incised with heavily forested gorges where wild rivers tumble over cataracts. In the wilder reaches there is game. Sable and eland still exist in herds. In the thicker, low-lying forests, there are still elephant whilst on the high grassy plateaus there is a range of smaller antelope as well as leopard, baboon and porcupine. Many of the birds are rare and occur only in the mountains and the wooded valleys.
Some plants too are endemic to the area, especially a number of the protea species.
It is for this reason that the Chipinge Branch of the Wildlife Society is trying to obtain protected status for two patches of moist, lowland, evergreen forests that lie at the foot of this range. Chimanimani is a wilderness area and so is not for everybody.