What is the History of Garamba National Park?
Question
Register Now
Thank you for registering with us, Welcome to Safari Questions and Answer family. Feel free to ask Questions, Answer Questions or post any opinion that you might have!
Answer ( 1 )
Garamba National Park was established in 1938 and is one of the first national parks in Africa. This 4,920 km² (1,900 miles²) area in the northeastern corner of Congo transitions from savanna to dense tropical forests and includes marshland, wide rivers and the gallery forests that line their banks.
Garamba National Park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. This esteemed designation was awarded due to its extraordinary variety and density of plant life as well as the fact that it is the natural habitat for four of the world’s largest mammals: the elephant, the rhinoceros, the giraffe and the hippopotamus.
Unfortunately, since this designation over thirty years ago, the northern white rhino numbers have declined, primarily due to poaching, until it is now suspected of being extinct in the wild: the last sighting was in 2007. Other subspecies of rhinoceros, the southern white rhino and the black rhino, continue to roam freely in their natural habitats.
Fortunately, a strong national park system in Africa, combined with a phenomenal increase in tourism in the past sixty years, provides the much needed dedication to conservation and an ever-increasing level of economic stability that is necessary to preserve the amazing biodiversity of this magical country.