Category World Famous National Parks

Hwange National Park is famous not only as the biggest national park in Zimbabwe. All of Zimbabwe’s specially protected animals can be found in Hwange. Also, it is the only place where gemsbok and brown hyena occur in reasonable numbers. It is also famous for the National Leopard Project, a survey that aims to find out the number of leopards and their hunting areas.

Hwange is home to over 100 mammal and 400 bird species. The number of animals in the Park is also relaed to the number of water holes. The herbivores of the Park constantly move and reside in various parts of the Park based on the availability of water. Even the number of major carnivores like lions are related to the availability of pans and waterholes.

The population of elephants has been increasing significantly in Hwange for the past ten years. This has put a strain on the resources of the Park.

Picture Credit : Google

There are less than 900 mountain gorillas in the world. These critically endangered animals cannot live in captivity. They can only live in dense forests like Bwindi in Uganda.

Around 400 mountain gorillas live in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is half the world’s population of the species. These mountain gorillas are gentle and many of them are familiar with the presence of tourists.

Bwindi is one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rainforest. Apart from gorillas, you can also find other primates like baboons and chimpanzees.

The forest in Bwindi is rich in flora and fauna. It supports more than 120 mammals. Around 400 species of birds can be seen in Bwindi. The Park also has a huge population of butterflies and frogs. There is abundant plant life in Bwindi; more than 1,000 flowering plant species, including 163 species of trees and 104 species of ferns thrive here.

Picture Credit : Google

The flora of the Addo Elephant National Park is quite distinct. The Park is home to many endemic plants including succulents and geophyte plants. However, many of these plants are under severe environmental pressure; some plants are even under the threat of extinction.

The original mission of the Park was to reintroduce certain mega-herbivores, like the African elephant and black rhino. While efforts were made to protect these mammals, the effects they have on the land were largely overlooked. As the population of these animals increased, certain plants were overgrazed. Around 77 species of South African endemic plants have been listed as ‘vulnerable to elephant browsing’.

Picture Credit : Google

The orange-hued sand dunes in the Namib-Naukluft National Park are the tallest in the world; some of these sand dunes are as tall as 00 metres and that is the same as the height of the Nurek Dam, one of the tallest dams in the world.

Namib-Naukluft National Park lies between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. The Park consists of the Namib Desert, the Naukluft mountain range, and the lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. The Namib Desert is considered to be the world’s oldest desert.

The wind that forms the sand dune of the Park also brings in moisture in the form of fog off the Atlantic Ocean. The burnt orange colour of the dunes is a sign of their age; it develops over time as the iron in the sand gets oxidized. The height of the dunes decreases near the coast.

A surprising number of animals thrive in this hyper-arid region including snakes, geckos, hyenas, gemsboks and jackals. The lagoons also attract a large number of birds.

Picture Credit : Google

An elephant requires around 70-150 kilograms of food a day. The Kruger National Park has enough resources for around 10,000 elephants. It would become a problem if the number of elephants increases.

Have you heard of something called culling? Culling is a deliberate reduction of the population of a wild animal. This is often done by selective slaughtering. In 1994, culling of elephants at Kruger was stopped. The authorities tried translocating them instead.

However, the population had increased to 16,900 in 2012. The increase in the elephant population has affected the vegetation of the Park.

Kruger National Park is the oldest national park in South Africa. UNESCO has declared Kruger as an International Man and Biosphere Reserve.

Picture Credit : Google

Forests, grasslands, swamps, mangroves, lagoons, beaches… Loango National Park has got them all. Entering the Park is like looking at a collage of different landscapes. All these exist right next to each other which makes it possible for an impressive range of wildlife to thrive.

One could spot gorillas, chimpanzees, mandrills, elephants and even humpback whales at Loango. Nowhere else in world can you see elephants, hippos and even gorillas foraging on the beach. That would definitely look like a fairy tale.

The Park also has a sizeable crocodile population. The Loango coast has the world’s largest concentration and variety of whales and dolphins after South Africa. Naturalist Michael Fay called Loango ‘Africa’s last Eden’.

Picture Credit : Google

The creation of Ivindo National Park was announced at the Earth Summit back n 2002 by the then President of Gabon, Omar Bango.

Ivindo National Park contains Langoue Bai, one of the five most important forest clearings in Central Africa. Bai is the local name for an open, marshy clearing within the heart of a primary rainforest. The existence of such clearings was discovered only in the 200s. Herds of African buffalo and African forest elephant are found here. Western lowland gorillas too come here at times.

The Park also has a notable bird population; there are around 430 species of birds in Ivindo.

Picture Credit : Google

Remember Pride Rock and the sun kissed majestic landscape in which Simba emerges as the true king? Who could forget the sweeping cliffs and deep gorge! The animators of the movie travelled to Kenya to discover a dramatic landscape for the film and they ended up in Hell’s Gate National Park.

Hell’s Gate is a comparatively smaller national park situated in a Rift Valley which is full of red cliffs. It also contains two volcanic plugs and hot springs. The Park has a varied wildlife. The big animals in the Pak include lions, leopards and cheetahs. There are more than 103 species of birds in the Park. It is also home to the rare lammergeier vultures.

Hell’s Gate National Park is also famous for safaris.

Picture Credit : Google

In 1958, Joy and George Adamson, a naturalist couple came to Meru to reintroduce the orphan lioness Elsa into the wild. The book and film about this project became very popular and attracted the world’s attention to Meru. Since then, Meru National Park has remained an icon of the timeless beauty of the East African landscape.

Meru National Park is one of the most famous national parks in the whole of Africa. Due to the abundant rainfall it receives, Meru is full of tall grass and swamps. The Park is also home to diverse kinds of wildlife that include Grevy’s zebra, white rhinos, hippopotamuses, reticulated giraffes and lesser kudus.

The 1970s, and 80s were times of trouble for Meru. Poaching became rampant and the wildlife population came down significantly. The white rhinos were almost wiped out. However, a group of committed wardens turned around the situation. They improved the security system and this ensured an improvement in the wildlife population.

Picture Credit : Google

The annual migration of western white-bearded wildebeests is one of the most spectacular wildlife events. At the onset of autumn, more than 1.5 million wildebeests embark on their journey along with gazelles and zebras along the Serengeti-Masai Mara ecosystem and cross the Kenya-Tanzania border twice. These animals migrate in search of water and fresh grazing grounds.

Serengeti National Park is known across the globe for the abundance of wildlife and rich biodiversity.

The most popular animals among the tourists are known as the ‘big five’ – lion, African leopard, African bush elephant, eastern black rhinoceros and African buffalo. The Park also has a rich bird life; there are more than 500 species of birds in Serengeti.

The reptiles in the park include the Nile crocodile, leopard tortoise and African python.

Picture Credit : Google