Location: 130 km from Iringa Map
Area: 20,200 km²
Ruaha National Park is a large national park
located in central Tanzania. Since an expansion in 2008, it even
surpasses the Serengeti National Park in size with an area of
about 20,226 km², making it one of the largest national parks in
Tanzania and all of East Africa.
The park's name derives from
the Ruaha River, which forms the park's southeastern boundary and
along which the best roads through the reserve run. The park itself
is best reached by car from Iringa or by plane; there is an airstrip
at Msembe, the park's base camp.
geography
The park is
located 128 kilometers west of Iringa and is part of a larger
ecosystem that also includes the Rungwa and Usangu Game Reserves and
other protected areas.
Its northern boundary is formed by the
river Njombe from its source to just before its mouth. The southern
boundary of the park is formed by the Ruaha River, although most of
its course is within the park.
History
The establishment
of a national park in this area was first discussed in 1949 by the
senior game warden in Mbeya, George Rushby. In 1951, the British
administration of what was then Tanganyika announced that it would
extend the Rungwa game reserve in the north-west to what is now the
park area. As a result, the ancestral population of the newly
protected area was forced to leave their homes. Since the split from
the Rungwa Game Reserve in 1964, the current park has held national
park status.
Nature
terrain and flora
Part of Ruaha
National Park is part of the Great Rift Valley. The park is divided
by an approximately 200 to 300 m high ledge, over which streams gush
down, especially during the rainy season. In the southern,
accessible part there is a valley, in the north there is a plateau
with mountains up to 1,800 m high. In the northwest, the Mzombe
River forms the park boundary. The flora of the park is definitely
worth protecting, because around 1,400 plant species grow in the
Ruaha National Park, for example from the genera Brachystegia,
Commiphora and Combretum. This is significantly more than, for
example, in the Serengeti National Park, where only 600 plant
species occur. Along the river there are some very large Ana trees,
whose seeds are eaten by elephants. Ruaha National Park consists
primarily of the rugged, semi-arid bushland characteristic of
Tanzania. It lies on the transition between East African acacia
savannah and the Miombo forest belt of southern Africa; Ruaha also
owes its large variety of antelopes to this circumstance. The
vegetation is subject to constant change due to forest fires, which
are often caused by poachers, and the activities of elephants, which
reduce the population of the baobab tree.
game stocks
Ruaha is known for its particularly large elephant population;
currently around 10,000 animals roam the park. The behavior of the
elephants is influenced by the changing climatic conditions. The
groups of several families formed at the beginning of the rainy
season break up during the dry season when the animals roam the
entire national park in search of food. By restricting tourist use
to the south-eastern part of the park, large reserves of land and
forage are available for the elephants. Ruaha National Park is a
good elephant sanctuary in terms of size, vegetation and water
resources, but poaching reduced their numbers from 26,625 in 1977 to
14,579 in 1983, to 9,280 just a year later. Throughout the
Ruaha-Rungwa-Kizigo area, elephant numbers fell from 43,685 in 1977
to 21,986 ten years later and to 21,000 the following year. From the
point of view of elephant conservation, this area can be counted as
part of an even larger ecosystem together with the Katavi Rukwa
region.
Likewise, the Ruaha National Park is a true paradise
for ornithologists: 436 of an estimated 475 bird species living
there have been identified so far. Among the resident birds are
various species of hornbills, kingfishers and sunbirds. Many
migratory birds also spend the winter in the park, such as the white
stork.
In addition to the sable antelope and the endangered
African wild dog, many other mammals and reptiles live here such as
crocodiles, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, buffalo in
large numbers, antelope, greater and lesser kudu, zebra and giraffe.
The range of the Grant's gazelle finds its southern edge here.
Rhinos were last sighted here in 1982; in the park they are
presumably extinct because of poaching.
There are many tsetse
flies in the area of the national park.
climate and hazards
The annual precipitation is 500 to 800 mm.
From June to September it almost never rains.
The water levels of
the Ruaha are steadily declining. In the past, the river used to carry
water all year round, but since 1993 there have been regular dry season
periods when the river dries up completely. These dry periods are
getting longer and longer. The suspected causes are irrigation-intensive
rice cultivation upstream and the increase in livestock (intensive
cattle farming) in the Usangu wetland, which feeds the Ruaha.
In
1990, poaching was considered a major problem for elephant populations,
as losses were already high. The forest fires started by poachers
endangered the vegetation.