Mkomazi National Park

TANZANIA’S NEW PARK

The number of national parks managed by Tanzania National Parks has increased to fifteen with the recent additional of Mkomazi National Park.

Comprising 3,234sq km in northern Tanzania, Mkomazi is a spectacular wilderness of dry bush, ancient baobab tress, isolated rocky hills, open savannah, acacias and grassy valleys.  To the northwest is Mount Kilimanjaro; to the south the Pare and Usumbara Mountains; and to the north Kenya’s Tsavo National Park.

Mkamazi actually shares a border 1,000 elephant, including females and their calves, to range freely between the two parks.

Buffalo, eland, gerenuk, giraffe, grant’s gazelle, hartebeest, impala, lesser kudu, Oryx, steinbak, waterbuck and zebra share the park with the elephant while predators include numerous lion, leopard, cheetah and jackal.  In all, 78 species of mammals have been recorded while a reptile population includes crocodile and python.

The birds of Mkomazi are even more numerous with some 450 recorded species.  Bee eaters, hornbills, guinea fowl, starlings and weaver-birds are seen in large numbers but less well known species include tawny eagles, secretary birds and violent wood-hoopoes, while the plant and insect life is probably the most diversified in Tanzania.

Mkomazi is also home to both the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary and the Breeding Program for the African Wild Dog.  Both projects forming part of the Tanzanian Government’s policy on endangered species.  The 28 square mile Mkomazi Rhino sanctuary, which will eventually hold up to 20 Rhino pending their transfer to other sage and secure areas of the country, offers limitless viewing and educational opportunities.

For tourists, Mkomazi offers abundant game viewing, scenic beauty and a quality wilderness experience ideal for game drives, walking safaris and hiking.  It is an ornithologist’s and photographer’s paradise.