Quiçama National Park
| Quiçama National Park | |||
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| Location: | Luanda , Angola | ||
| Next city: | Luanda | ||
| Surface: | 9600 km² | ||
| Length: | 150 km | ||
| Founding: | 1938 | ||
The Quiçama National Park (also Kissama National Park ) is located in the province of Luanda 70 km south of Luanda in Angola . It has an area of 9600 km² and is bordered by the rivers Cuanza in the north and Longa in the south and the Atlantic in the west. It is the most animal-rich and most easily accessible Angolan national park .
history
The park was established as a hunting reserve on April 16, 1938 and converted into a national park in 1957 by the Portuguese Overseas Ministry. Before the beginning of the civil war in Angola (1975-2002) there were 3,000 red buffalo , 800 elephants, countless roan antelopes and other animal species in the park . During the conflict, the national park was invaded and occupied by people from the area. Illegal hunting depleted the game population so much that most of the large animal species became extinct. The national park was reopened on December 16, 2000. In 2001–2002, “Operation Noah's Ark” was one of the largest wild animal relocation projects in history. Around 100 wild animals in boxes, including 35 elephants , 4 giraffes , 12 zebras , 12 wildebeest , 12 kudus , 12 ostriches and 8 eland antelopes from Botswana and South Africa to Cabo Ledo, more than 3000 km away, were transported with Russian Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft of the Angolan armed forces flown on the edge of Quiçama National Park. The project was financed only through donations. The director of the national park from 2002 to 2012 was the South African Roland Goetz. In 2014 the program was resumed by the Environment Ministry and other animal species introduced as Nyala , South African hartebeest , waterbuck , Blesbok , wildebeest , oryx and impala . However, Nyalas had never existed in Angola before.
fauna and Flora
The elephant population in the park has quadrupled since the rescue operation. The number of giraffes has risen to 44 (as of 2018). In addition to the animal species already mentioned, monkeys , manatees , crocodiles , turtles and countless species of birds, including flamingos and pelicans, as well as 14 endemic species can be found.
The dominant plants are acacia , baobab tree , Sterculia , Spurge and endemic Tassmania camoneana .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Country Profile: Republic of Angola (PDF) p. 2, giraffeconservation.org , February 2019, accessed on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ How Operation Noah's Ark Saved this African Park ozy.com , October 3, 2018, accessed June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Parque Nacional da Kissama lonelyplanet.com , accessed June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Roland Goetz: Report on Kissama National Park (PDF) p. 2, wild.org , 2012, accessed on June 9, 2019.
- ^ Brian J. Huntley, Vladimir Russo, Fernanda Lages, Nuno Ferrand: Biodiversity of Angola: Science & Conservation: a Modern Synthesis p. 498, Springer, January 1, 2019.
- ↑ Country Profile: Republic of Angola (PDF) p. 4, giraffeconservation.org , February 2019, accessed on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Untouched nature in Angola: insider tip for tourists and investors euronews.com , February 13, 2019, accessed on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Parque Nacional da Quiçama Um paraíso natural em Angola platinaline.com , April 30, 2019, accessed on June 9, 2019.
- ↑ Parque Nacional da Quiçama biodiversidade-angola.com , 2016, accessed on June 9, 2019.