The
Kafue National Park is the largest national park in Zambia, covering an area of
about 22,480 km². It is the second largest park in Africa and is home to over
55 different species of animals.
The
park is named for the Kafue River. It stretches over three provinces: North
Western, Central and Southern. The main access is via the Great West Road from
Lusaka to Mongu which crosses the park north of its centre. Seasonal dirt roads
also link from Kalomo and Namwala in the south and south-east, and Kasempa in
the north.
“The
Park has nine Game Management areas (GMAs) that surround it except for two
portions of Open Area along parts of the north-eastern and south-eastern
boundary. The GMAs cover an area of approximately 45,406 km2 thereby creating a
Protected Area of nearly 68,000 km2.” (Zambia Wildlife Authority, 2010)
History
of the Kafue National Park
“Kafue
National Park is the oldest and largest National Park in Zambia. It was
proclaimed on 28 April 1950 by Government Notice No. 108 of 1950 under the Game
Ordinance, Chapter 106 of the Laws of Zambia. Its National Park status was
underlined on 25 February 1972 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act and
the original proclamation was revised on 16 April 1993, in Statutory Instrument
No. 58 of 1993 establishing it as National Park No. 11.” (Zambia Wildlife
Authority, 2010)
PURPOSE OF KAFUE
NATIONAL PARK
The
Kafue National Park has four main objectives or purposes which are to conserve
the vast area of natural ecosystems which contains diverse wildlife as well as
to protect cultural resources and sites. It also provides opportunities for
tourism, conservation education and scientific research. It contributes to the
socio-economic well-being of the surrounding local communities and Zambian
people at large.
The
park possesses nationally significant natural or cultural resources making it
appropriate for direct management as a National Park instead of alternative
protection by other land administering agencies or the private sector.
Animals
Kafue
National Park has the greatest diversity of animal species found in any
National Park in Zambia. All the large mammals naturally occurring in Zambia
have been recorded except for giraffe, tsessebe and black rhinoceros; the
latter was once widely distributed but has been extirpated. The diversity of
mammals and birds in the Kafue National Park tends to be the major attraction
of the Park for tourism. Examples of animals that can be found in the park
include;
The African Elephant
(Loxodonta africana)
Classified
under the family elephantidae, the African elephant is the largest land
dwelling mammal. It grows continually throughout its life with the male
weighing up to 7 tons and female at 4 tons. They have a lifespan of 50-60 years
and a gestation period of 22 months, giving birth to only 1 offspring at a
time. Young elephant drink water directly through the mouth but when they grow
up the use their trunks instead. An adult elephant can drink as much as 200
litres of water per day.
The African Buffalo
(Syncerus caffer)
This
mammal belongs to the family bovidae. It can weigh up to 700-900 kg. The
buffalo has a life span of 23 years and gestation period of 11 months giving
birth to only 1 offspring. KNP has had a reputation for large herds of buffalo
which occur on all the major Kafue river drainages.
Burchell’s Zebra (Equus
zebra)
The
zebra belongs to family equidae. Its weight ranges from 300-320kg. It has a
lifespan of 20 years with a gestation period of 12 months. Their two types of
zebra in the Africa that is the mountain zebra and common (Burchell’s) zebra
the difference is that the mountain zebra has stripes running up to the legs
while the common (Burchell’s) zebra does not. These animals do not have horn
and so use kicks to defend themselves.
Carnivores
Since
the Park has a large variety of prey species there is a diverse and well
represented number of large predators. Lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera
pardus), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), wild dog
(Lycaon pictus) and side-striped jackal (Canis adustus) are known to occur
throughout although information on distribution and densities is scarce.
Picture of a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
Primates
Yellow
baboon (Papio cynocephalus) is widely distributed and Chacma baboon (Papio
ursinus) is recorded in the southern part of the Park only. Vervet monkey
(Cercopithecus pygerythrus) is widely distributed as are the bush baby (Galago
crassicaudatus) and night ape (Galago moholi).
CHALLENGES OF KAFUE
NATIONAL PARK
Wildfire
The
park had experienced frequent and unplanned fires since its prclaimation. The
fires were usually caused by human activities namely poaching, drying fish and
honey gathering.
Natural
Disasters and Climate Change
Rarely,
extreme weather conditions such as heavy torrential rain and extended drought
can cause local flooding and heat waves with associated threats to the public.
There is clear evidence that both natural and human-induced climate change is
having an effect on global climate, with associated impacts on the environment
and human welfare.
Park Boundary
KNP
boundary is approximately 1000km. This boundary has not been cleared for more
than two decades and signposts and beacons do not adequately show the boundary.
Some problems associated with this issue are the settlements made by some local
people, hunting in the park and fires that spread into the park from the
outside.
Illegal off take of the
Wildlife Resource
Illegal
off take of the wild animals in this park had reached alarming levels in 1998
(ZAWA, 2004). Both subsistence and commercial illegal off take of wild animals
took place in the park. The latter was the most serious as poachers used both
sport and military weapons targeting the large animals. There was also the use
of wire snares in poaching.
Tourism
Despite
the great size of the park, which is renowned for its high diversity of fauna
species and other features of interest, tourism has not developed to its
potential. The construction of infrastructure and facilities has not been
appropriately developed. The park has not been sufficiently promoted both
locally and internationally. Some of the problems affecting tourism development
in the park include lack of the tourism development plan, poor accessibility to
and within the park, poaching reports, low animal population densities, lack of
information and interpretative facilities, non-celebrity of the park and other
factors such as poor communication.
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