Chobe-Nationalpark
IUCN Category II - National Park
Wildebeest and zebras in Chobe National Park
The Chobe National Park is a national park in Botswana. It was founded in 1967 as the first national park in Botswana. In the territory of the park there was a larger settlement, which was gradually thinned out. Since 1975, no more people living in the park. Enhancements in the years 1980 and 1987, the park reached its current size of 10,566 km ². He is part of the planned cross-border conservation area Kavango - Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
The National Park was named after the Chobe River, which forms the northern boundary of the park. The Chobe comes from Angola, he is known there Kuando River. Chobe is famous for its huge elephant and Cape buffalo herds and he is the southernmost possibility where the Puku can be found.
Vegetation
The vegetation of the region consists mainly of tree and bush savannah. East of Ngoma extends typical riparian vegetation along the Chobe River.
Wildlife
Chobe is famous for its large herds of elephants. In the dry season of 2004, about 30,000 specimens collected in the National Park. In 2009, official counts were around 120,000 copies. However, this figure must be doubted. According to various estimates live in the whole of Africa only 400000-650000 elephants. In addition, should per square kilometer park about 12 elephants live. Although a park on a high density of elephants, but this is likely to be significantly lower than the official figures. In the region of Savuti river are young and half-grown elephants especially during droughts regularly prey to lions.
The Chobe region is home to numerous other large mammal species. Large predators are represented by spot next to lions hyenas, cheetahs, leopards and wild dogs. Burchell's zebra are found in the area, as well as giraffes, hippos and warthogs. At the Chobe River, the bush pig is also demonstrated. Cape buffalo are common. Numerous antelope species belong to the fauna of the area. The major among them are Topi, hartebeest, wildebeest, eland, greater kudu, sable antelope, roan antelope, impala, waterbuck, lechwe, puku, reedbuck and bushbuck. In the area of Linyanti swamps in the Okavango Delta and the Sitatunga occurs. Smaller species are Kronenduker, steenbok, Grysbok and the rare Oribi, which is limited in Botswana to the north. Springbok and gemsbok occur in the south adjacent drylands. The park also has a rich bird life.
Greater Kudu on the Chobe River
Elephants
Banded mongooses
Rotschnabeltoko
Lions and elephants in the Savuti area
Zebras and impalas in the Chobe National Park
See also: Nature in Botswana