Zakouma National Park

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The National Park Zakouma is a national park in south eastern Chad in the region Salamat. It is 3000 km ². Its buffer zone has a size of 20,000 km ². The national park is since 2006 a part of the Ramsar area Plaines d' inondation the Bahr Salamat et Aouk, which is one of the world's largest protected areas of this kind.

Location and climate

The Zakouma National Park is located west of the capital Salamat Am Timan, 800 km southeast of the provincial capital, N'Djamena, to 200 to 500 meters above sea level. The annual precipitation is 500 to 890 mm. The rainy season lasts from late April to late October.

Flora and Fauna

The predominant vegetation form is the wooded savannah, which is dominated by long threads, Myrobalan, Anogeissus and Aporosa species. It is interspersed with smaller forest areas. Shrub land makes up 51 ​​% of the area of the National Park. Especially in the south there are extensive open floodplains which are inundated during the rainy season. They extend over 500 km ². Your grass vegetation is mainly formed by Vetiveria, bristle millet and Paspalum species. The many -lined part of gallery forest watercourses are also used for dry season as water points for wildlife. These are represented by lions, leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs, buffalo, warthogs, rhinos, giraffe, greater kudu, wildebeest and many other Bovidae. In addition, Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus occurs. There are also elephants in Zakouma National Park.

There 226 species of birds occurring in the park were recorded. The most important are the Crowned Crane ( in winter), the Niam - Niam Parrot Grünstirnspint, the black breast - furrow Schnabel, the sun lark, the red-headed Cistensänger, the purple glossy starling, the Gambagaschnäpper ( the breeding season ), the Heuglin -Weber and the Grauastrild. The Zakouma National Park will also house larger Pelican stocks, but no systematic counts of waterbirds were still performed.

Poaching

In August 2006, conservationists discovered by a small plane from 100 poached elephants. From 2006 to 2008 the number of elephants dropped from 3000 to about 1000. Too few park rangers were shot by poachers.

Protection status

The area was made ​​in 1958 as a wildlife reserve under protection and in 1963 upgraded to a National Park. Since 1989, the park receives considerable support from abroad, for example in the context of an EU-funded conservation project.

The Zakouma National Park is surrounded by the Bahr Salamat Faunal Reserve, which comprises 20,600 km ². It forms the buffer zone, although it does not have a corresponding protection status.

Tourism

The distance from the park to the capital has a negative effect on the development of tourism. Another problem is the competition from more accessible parks in northern Cameroon.

The best time to visit is in March and April, when the animals congregate around the water holes. From June to October is possible because of the rain, no visit. One can stay at Le encampment hôtelier Tinga, which is located within the park. There are also guided safaris and horse riding.