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Mkomazi National Park

3500 sq kms located in north eastern Tanzania, 160km from Arusha, Mkomazi National Park forms part of the northern circuit of Tanzania and is home to the endangered Black Rhino and Wild Dog

fast facts

attractions

 
  • Scenic beauty of Pare Mountains
  • Large populations of Gerenuk
  • 450+ species of birds
  • Wild Dogs
  • Black Rhino 

activities

 
  • Game drives
  • Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary visit

park information

Mkomazi National Park is a spectacular wilderness. Within sight to the northwest is Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest summit. To the south, the Pare and Usumbara Mountains form a dramatic backdrop, and to the north, Kenya’s vast Tsavo National Park shares a border with Mkomazi, making common ground for migratory herds of elephant, oryx and zebra during the wet season.

Mkomazi is a classic dry country reserve of grey-green nyika bush, ancient baobab trees and isolated rocky hills. Elsewhere, the seas of bush give way to open savannah woodlands of umbrella acacias and mbugas(shallow valleys of grassland).

The animals are typical of the arid nyika. Giraffe, oryx, gerenuk, hartebeest, lesser kudu, eland, impala and Grant’s gazelle share the reserve with elephant, buffalo and numerous predators, including lion, leopard and cheetah. In all, 78 species of mammal have been recorded. The birds of Mkomazi are even more numerous with over 400 species being recorded.

Mkomazi is also the focus of an intensive breeding program to save the endangered black rhinos. While the park is perfect for rhino, it is dry and dusty most of the year. When the frequented waterholes dry up, game becomes elusive and hard to find. Wild dogs have recently been introduced to the region and the park does have a wide variety of indigenous snakes.

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