South Luangwa National Park in eastern
Zambia , the southernmost of three national
parks in the valley of the Luangwa River , is a
world-renowned wildlife haven.

It supports large populations of Thornicroft's giraffe , and herds of
elephants and Cape buffaloes often several
hundred strong, while the Luangwa River
supports abundant crocodiles and
hippopotamuses.

It is one of the best-known
national parks in Africa for walking safaris .
Founded as a game reserve in 1938, it became a
national park in 1972 and now covers
9,050 km.

The Muchinga Escarpment in Northern and
Central Provinces forms the park's western or
north-western boundary, it slopes down from
there to the river, lying mostly on its western
bank. The eastern bank of the river is in Eastern
Province, and as access to the park is only from
that side, it is usually thought of as being wholly
in Eastern Province.

The park spans two ecoregions, both of them
woodland savannah, distinguished by the
dominant tree: Southern Miombo woodlands
cover the higher slopes of the valley, while
Zambezian and Mopane woodlands cover the
bottom of the valley.The Mopane tree tolerates
the higher temperatures and lower rainfall found
at lower elevations than miombo trees which
are found on the higher plateau. Within these
woodland savannahs are larger patches of
grassland, so that grazers such as zebra and
leaf browsers such as giraffe are found in
profusion in the same areas.

Patches of flooded grassland habitats (floodplains) are found close
to the river, on which hippopotamus graze at
night. Their dung released into the river fertilises
its waters and sustains the fish population
which in turn sustains the crocodiles.
The Luangwa valley, continued to the west by
the Lunsemfwa River valley, contains some
varieties of animals such as Cookson's
wildebeest and Crawshay's zebra which are
endemic or near-endemic to the valley.

It also represents something of a natural barrier to
human migration and transport, no roads cross
it and this has helped conserve its wildlife.
Although the park is generally well-protected
from poaching , the park's black rhinos were
wiped out by 1987, and the elephant population
has been under serious pressure at times.
The main settlement of the park is actually
outside its eastern boundary at Mfuwe , home to
an international airport.

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Chabala Chisenga
Eco Generation Regional Ambassador To Zambia