Buffalo Springs National Reserve
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Buffalo Springs National Reserve
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 Young lion in Buffalo Springs Sanctuary |
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Isiolo County , Kenya
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| surface | 131 km² | |
| WDPA ID | 2295 | |
| Geographical location | 0 ° 33 ′ N , 37 ° 36 ′ E | |
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| Setup date | 1985 | |
The Buffalo Springs National Reserve (English: Buffalo Springs National Reserve) is a nature reserve in northern Kenya . It is 131 km² and is located near Isiolo in the county of the same name , 85 km north of Mount Kenya . The state capital Nairobi is 112 km away. Its height above sea level is between 800 and 1,230 m. The Buffalo Springs National Reserve takes its name from an oasis of crystal clear water at its western end. The Buffalo Springs constantly keep water for the wildlife and for Archers Post , a nearby city, ready.
With an annual rainfall of less than 400 mm - due to the location on the lee side of Mount Kenya it hardly rains - the Buffalo Springs National Reserve is characterized by drought. Here are acacia and hyphaene Hyphaene thebaica ago. The predominant forms of vegetation are dry bushland and open grass areas. A narrow gallery forest grows only on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro , which flows through the reserve . However, the river that used to carry water all year round has occasionally dried up since the late 1970s, as too much water is withdrawn for agricultural purposes upstream. It is still a few weeks for the elephants to survive by digging up water. However, if the annual water volume of the Uaso Nyero decreases further, the area becomes unsuitable for elephants.
Besides reticulated giraffes and steppe and Grevy's zebras come here buffalo , hippos , warthogs , Small kudu , eland , oryx , gazelles , giraffes gazelles , impala , waterbuck and two Dikdikarten , including Günther's dik-dik , above. Predators include lions , leopards , cheetahs and African wild dogs, as well as striped and spotted hyenas . In the Buffalo Springs National Reserve there are also crocodiles , for example Nile monitors , as well as 450 species of birds, including the fighting eagle , the vulture guinea fowl , the bustard and the Somali ostrich .
The Buffalo Springs National Reserve forms a unit with the adjacent Samburu National Reserve , from which it is only separated by the Uaso Nyero. The Shaba National Reserve, a few kilometers to the east, belongs to the same ecological area.
The elephant populations of the three reserves are no longer constant. In 1973 2500 animals were counted, in 1976 and 1977 there were only 531. Occasionally herds migrate from the north. These are much more shy than their local counterparts, who are used to the particularly pronounced mass tourism here.
During the Mau Mau uprising , the freedom fighters used the Buffalo Springs National Reserve as a retreat. On his flight to Ethiopia , the route of their general Mathenge led through the same.
Web links
literature
- Wally and Horst Hagen: The African national parks as habitats for elephants . In: Vitus B. Dröscher (1990): Save the Elephants of Africa (pp. 229–230)