Nairobi National Park
Encyclopedia
Nairobi National Park is a national park
in Kenya
. Established in 1946, the national park was Kenya's first. It is located approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) south of the centre of Nairobi
, Kenya's capital city, with only a fence separating the park's wildlife from the metropolis. Nairobi's skyscraper
s can be seen from the park. Indeed, the proximity of urban and natural environments has caused conflicts between the animals and local people and threatens animals' migration routes.
Still, despite its proximity to civilization and relative small size for an Africa
n national park, Nairobi National Park boasts a large and varied wildlife population. Migrating herbivores gather in the park during the dry season
, and it is one of Kenya's most successful rhinoceros
sanctuaries.
colonists
arrived in the area where the park is located in the late 19th century. At this time, the Athi plains east and south of what is today Nairobi had plentiful wildlife. Nomad
ic Maasai lived and herded their cattle among the wildlife. Kikuyu people farmed the forested highlands above Nairobi. As Nairobi grew—it had 14,000 residents by 1910—conflicts between humans and animals increased. Residents of the city carried guns at night to protect against lion
s. People complained that giraffe
s and zebra
s walked on and ruined their flower beds. Animals were gradually confined to the expansive plains to the west and south of Nairobi, and the colonial government set this area aside as a game reserve
. Settlers from Nairobi including Isak Dinesen
, author of Out of Africa
, rode horses among gazelle
s, impala
, and zebras in this reserve.
The conservationist
Mervyn Cowie
was born in Nairobi. Returning to Kenya after a nine-year absence in 1932, he was alarmed to see that the amount of game animals on the Athi plains had dwindled. Expanding farms and livestock
had taken the place of the game. He later recalled this place as a paradise that was quickly disappearing. At this time, the area that would later become Nairobi National Park was part of the Southern Game Reserve. Hunting was not permitted in the reserve, but nearly every other activity, including cattle grazing, dumping, and even bombing by the Royal Air Force
was allowed. Cowie started to campaign for the establishment of a national park system in Kenya. The government formed a committee to examine the matter.
Officially opened in 1946, Nairobi National Park was the first national park established in Kenya. Maasai pastoralists
were removed from their lands when the park was created. Cowie was named as director of Nairobi National Park and held this position until 1966. In 1989, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi
burned twelve tons of ivory
on a site within the park. This event improved Kenya's conservation and wildlife protection image.
s) and is small in comparison to most of Africa
's national parks. The park's altitude
ranges between 1,533 metres (5,030 ft) and 1,760 metres (5,774 ft). It has a dry climate. The park is the only protected part of the Athi-Kapiti ecosystem
, making up less than 10% of this ecosystem. The park has a diverse range of habitats and species.
The park is located about 7 kilometres (4 mi) from the Nairobi's centre. There is electric fencing around the park's northern, eastern, and western boundaries. Its southern boundary is formed by the Mbagathi River
. This boundary is not fenced and is open to the Kitengela Conservation Area (located immediately south of the park) and the Athi-Kapiti plains. There is considerable movement of large ungulate
species across this boundary.
The fence that separates the park from the city runs along a high way leaving the airport, this is one fact many Kenyans are proud of - this park is the only natural safari park that has a city scape background that can be seen from almost any part of the park, as seen in the picture of the giraffe and the sky scrapers.
with scattered Acacia
bushes. The western uplands of the park have highland dry forest
with stands of Olea africana
, Croton dichogamus
, Brachylaena hutchinsii
, and Calodendrum
. The lower slopes of these areas are grassland. Themeda
, Cypress
, Digitaria
, and Cynodon
species are found in these grassland areas. There are also scattered yellow-barked Acacia xanthophloea
. There is a riverine forest along the permanent river in the south of the park. There are areas of broken bush and deep rocky valleys and gorges within the park. The species in the valleys are predominantly Acacia and Euphorbia candelabrum
. Other tree species include Apodytes dimidiata
, Canthium schimperiana
, Elaeodendron buchananii, Ficus eriocarpa
, Aspilia mossambicensis, Rhus natalensis
, and Newtonia
species. Several plants that grow on the rocky hillsides are unique to the Nairobi area. These species include Euphorbia brevitorta
, Drimia calcarata, and Murdannia clarkeana.
The park has a large and diverse wildlife population. Species found in the park include African buffalo
, baboon
, black rhinoceros
, Burchell's zebra
, cheetah
, Coke's hartebeest
, Grant's gazelle
, hippopotamus
, leopard
, lion
, Thomson's gazelle
, eland
, impala
, Masai giraffe
, ostrich
, vulture
, and waterbuck
.
Herbivores, including wildebeest and zebra, use the Kitengela conservation area and migration corridor to the south of the park to reach the Athi-Kapiti plains. They disperse over the plains in the wet season
and return to the park in the dry season. The concentration of wildlife in the park is greatest in the dry season, when areas outside the park have dried up. Small dams built along the Mbagathi River give the park more water resources than these outside areas. They attract water dependent herbivores during the dry season. The park is the northern limit for wildlife migrations in the dry season. The park has a high diversity of bird species, with up to 500 permanent and migratory species in the park. Dams have created a man-made habitat for birds and aquatic species.
The David Sheldrick Trust runs a sanctuary in the park that hand-rears orphaned elephant and rhinoceros calves, and later releases them back into secure sanctuaries. Orphaned and sick animals are brought to the sanctuary from all over Kenya. The sanctuary is located close to the park's main entrance. It was opened in 1963. It was set up by Daphne Sheldrick
after the death of her husband David Sheldrick
, the anti-poaching warden of Tsavo National Park
. Nairobi National Park is sometimes called Kifaru Ark, which means "Rhinoceros Sanctuary". It is one of Kenya's most successful rhinoceros sanctuaries, and it is one of only a few parks where visitors can be certain of seeing a black rhinoceros in its natural habitat.
Mervyn Cowie oversaw the development of several of Kenya's national parks and designed them with human visitors in mind. This emphasis helped to make tourism
Kenya's primary industry. However, it exacerbated problems between the human population and wildlife. Farmers living next to the parks did not have input into the establishment of the parks. Locals received very little benefit from the game animals. Livestock is threatened by lions, and some landowners think that Kenya's wildlife is not good for them. In 1948 188,976 people lived in Nairobi, and by 1997 the city's population had grown to 1.5 million. The park is under pressure from the city's growing population and need for farmland. People live right next to the park's boundaries, which creates human-animal conflicts. The human population also creates pollution and garbage. Effluent and industrial waste from factories located along the park's northern boundary contaminate the park's surface and ground water systems.
Treaties with the Maasai in 1904 and 1911 forced them to give up all of their northern grazing lands on the Laikipia escarpment near Mount Kenya
. Some of the people that lost land there were resettled in the Kitengela area. The Maasai's pastoral life did not create any conflicts with the wildlife. Today the Kitengela has been divided into group ranches and some of the land has been sold to Kikuyu farmers. Houses, cultivated plots, schools, shops, and bars are found on the Kitengela plains. People living here suffer from the presence of predators. Some of the park's revenues have been used for community projects in order for the people living on the Kitengela to benefit from the presence of the national park. Many Maasai landowners have formed the Kitengela Landowners Association, which works with the Kenyan Wildlife Service to both protect the wildlife and find benefits for the locals.
The park and the Athi-Kapiti Plains are linked by the migrations of wild herbivore populations. The plains to the south of the park are important feeding areas during the wet season. Before the city was established, herds of animals followed the rains and moved across the plains from Mount Kilimanjaro
to Mount Kenya, a migration as great as the migration that takes place on the Serengeti
. However, as the city grew the park became the northernmost limit of the animal's migration. Migrating animals can reach their southern pastures by travelling through the part of the Athi plains called the Kitengela. This land is very important to their migration routes, but growth in the human population and the accompanying need for land threaten to cut off this traditional migration route from the park to land further south. The park's migratory species are also threatened by changing settlement patterns, fencing, and their closeness to Nairobi and other industrial towns. These activities fragment their ecosystems and occupy their habitat.
The park's Wildlife Conservation Education Centre has lectures and video shows about wildlife and guided tours of the park and animal orphanage. These tours are primarily, but not exclusively, to educate schools and local communities. There has been criticism about animals' housing, and they now have more spacious housing in a more natural environment. The Kenya Wildlife Service
has created a Safari Walk that highlights the variety of plants and animals that are in Kenya, and how they affect Kenya's population.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Established in 1946, the national park was Kenya's first. It is located approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) south of the centre of Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya's capital city, with only a fence separating the park's wildlife from the metropolis. Nairobi's skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
s can be seen from the park. Indeed, the proximity of urban and natural environments has caused conflicts between the animals and local people and threatens animals' migration routes.
Still, despite its proximity to civilization and relative small size for an Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n national park, Nairobi National Park boasts a large and varied wildlife population. Migrating herbivores gather in the park during the dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
, and it is one of Kenya's most successful rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
sanctuaries.
History
BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
colonists
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
arrived in the area where the park is located in the late 19th century. At this time, the Athi plains east and south of what is today Nairobi had plentiful wildlife. Nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic Maasai lived and herded their cattle among the wildlife. Kikuyu people farmed the forested highlands above Nairobi. As Nairobi grew—it had 14,000 residents by 1910—conflicts between humans and animals increased. Residents of the city carried guns at night to protect against lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s. People complained that giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s and zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
s walked on and ruined their flower beds. Animals were gradually confined to the expansive plains to the west and south of Nairobi, and the colonial government set this area aside as a game reserve
Game reserve
A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of wildlife for tourism or hunting purposes. Many game reserves are located in Africa. Most are open to the public, and tourists commonly take sightseeing safaris or hunt wild game....
. Settlers from Nairobi including Isak Dinesen
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
, author of Out of Africa
Out of Africa
Out of Africa is a 1985 romantic drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack, and starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The film is based loosely on the autobiographical book Out of Africa written by Isak Dinesen , which was published in 1937, with additional material from Dinesen's book...
, rode horses among gazelle
Gazelle
A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
s, impala
Impala
An impala is a medium-sized African antelope. The name impala comes from the Zulu language meaning "gazelle"...
, and zebras in this reserve.
The conservationist
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
Mervyn Cowie
Mervyn Cowie
Mervyn Hugh Cowie was a conservationist who pioneered wildlife protection and the development of tourism throughout East Africa.- Personal life :...
was born in Nairobi. Returning to Kenya after a nine-year absence in 1932, he was alarmed to see that the amount of game animals on the Athi plains had dwindled. Expanding farms and livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
had taken the place of the game. He later recalled this place as a paradise that was quickly disappearing. At this time, the area that would later become Nairobi National Park was part of the Southern Game Reserve. Hunting was not permitted in the reserve, but nearly every other activity, including cattle grazing, dumping, and even bombing by the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
was allowed. Cowie started to campaign for the establishment of a national park system in Kenya. The government formed a committee to examine the matter.
Officially opened in 1946, Nairobi National Park was the first national park established in Kenya. Maasai pastoralists
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
were removed from their lands when the park was created. Cowie was named as director of Nairobi National Park and held this position until 1966. In 1989, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi
Daniel arap Moi
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...
burned twelve tons of ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
on a site within the park. This event improved Kenya's conservation and wildlife protection image.
Geography
The park covers an area of 117.21 square kilometres (28,963 acreAcre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s) and is small in comparison to most of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
's national parks. The park's altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
ranges between 1,533 metres (5,030 ft) and 1,760 metres (5,774 ft). It has a dry climate. The park is the only protected part of the Athi-Kapiti ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
, making up less than 10% of this ecosystem. The park has a diverse range of habitats and species.
The park is located about 7 kilometres (4 mi) from the Nairobi's centre. There is electric fencing around the park's northern, eastern, and western boundaries. Its southern boundary is formed by the Mbagathi River
Mbagathi River
The Mbagathi River is a river in Kenya. It is a tributary of the Athi River. It forms the southern boundary of Nairobi National Park. Herds of animals cross the river when migrating. A number of small dams have been built along the river....
. This boundary is not fenced and is open to the Kitengela Conservation Area (located immediately south of the park) and the Athi-Kapiti plains. There is considerable movement of large ungulate
Ungulate
Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...
species across this boundary.
The fence that separates the park from the city runs along a high way leaving the airport, this is one fact many Kenyans are proud of - this park is the only natural safari park that has a city scape background that can be seen from almost any part of the park, as seen in the picture of the giraffe and the sky scrapers.
Flora
The park's predominant environment is open grass plainGrassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
with scattered Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
bushes. The western uplands of the park have highland dry forest
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...
with stands of Olea africana
Olea
Olea is a genus of about 40 species in the family Oleaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australasia. They are evergreen trees and shrubs, with small, opposite, entire leaves...
, Croton dichogamus
Croton (genus)
Croton is an extensive flowering plant genus in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, established by Carl Linnaeus in 1737. The plants of this genus were described and introduced to Europeans by Georg Eberhard Rumphius. The common names for this genus are rushfoil and croton, but the latter also...
, Brachylaena hutchinsii
Brachylaena
Brachylaena is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. Notable species include:* Brachylaena calodendrum* Brachylaena discolor DC. subsp. discolor...
, and Calodendrum
Calodendrum
Calodendrum is a genus of medium-sized evergreen trees comprising two species from Africa. Calodendrum capense is a well known tree that is widely cultivated, while Calodendrum eickii is a rare forest tree from Tanzania. The botanical name comes from Greek, kalos means beautiful and dendrum means...
. The lower slopes of these areas are grassland. Themeda
Themeda
Themeda is a genus of plants of the family Poaceae.-Selected species:* Themeda anathera* Themeda arguens Hack.* Themeda arundinacea* Themeda avanacea* Themeda ciliata* Themeda forskalii* Themeda frondosa...
, Cypress
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
, Digitaria
Digitaria
Digitaria is a genus of about 300 species of grass native to tropical and warm temperate regions. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are slender monocotyledonous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests...
, and Cynodon
Cynodon
Cynodon is a genus of nine species of grasses, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. The genus as a whole as well as its species are commonly known as Bermuda Grass or Dog's Tooth Grass.-Species:...
species are found in these grassland areas. There are also scattered yellow-barked Acacia xanthophloea
Acacia xanthophloea
Acacia xanthophloea is a tree in the Fabaceae family and is commonly known in English as the Fever Tree . This species of Acacia is native to eastern and southern Africa. It can be found in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe...
. There is a riverine forest along the permanent river in the south of the park. There are areas of broken bush and deep rocky valleys and gorges within the park. The species in the valleys are predominantly Acacia and Euphorbia candelabrum
Euphorbia candelabrum
Euphorbia candelabrum is a succulent species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. Its Latin name derives from its growth habit, often considered to resemble the branching of a candelabrum. E. candelabrum is endemic to the Horn of Africa and eastern Africa along the Great Rift Valley system...
. Other tree species include Apodytes dimidiata
Apodytes dimidiata
Apodytes dimidiata is a bushy tree, with white fragrant flowers and small, dark red berries. It is usually about 5 m tall , and it is indigenous to Southern Africa.The taxonomical family placement for this and other Apodytes is currently under debate...
, Canthium schimperiana
Canthium
Canthium is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny.-Distribution:They are native to India, Sri Lanka, and tropical East Africa.-Taxonomy:...
, Elaeodendron buchananii, Ficus eriocarpa
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
, Aspilia mossambicensis, Rhus natalensis
Sumac
Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America....
, and Newtonia
Newtonia (plant)
Newtonia is a genus of legumes.Species are:* Newtonia aubrevillei Keay* Newtonia buchananii G.C.C.Gilbert & Boutique* Newtonia camerunensis - might belong in Entada* Newtonia duparquetiana Keay...
species. Several plants that grow on the rocky hillsides are unique to the Nairobi area. These species include Euphorbia brevitorta
Spurge
Euphorbia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of 2008 species, Euphorbia is one of the most diverse genera in the plant kingdom, exceeded possibly only by Senecio. Members of the family and genus are sometimes referred to as Spurges...
, Drimia calcarata, and Murdannia clarkeana.
Fauna
African Buffalo
The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...
, baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
, black rhinoceros
Black Rhinoceros
The Black Rhinoceros or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros , is a species of rhinoceros, native to the eastern and central areas of Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola...
, Burchell's zebra
Burchell's Zebra
Burchell's Zebra is a southern subspecies of the Plains Zebra.-Range:Formerly Burchell's zebra ranged north of the Vaal/Orange river system, extending northwest via southern Botswana to Etosha and the Kaokoveld, southeast to Swaziland and Kwazulu-Natal...
, cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
, Coke's hartebeest
Hartebeest
The hartebeest is a grassland antelope found in West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. It is one of the three species classified in the genus Alcelaphus....
, Grant's gazelle
Grant's Gazelle
The Grant's gazelle is a species of gazelle. Its populations are distributed from northern Tanzania to southern Sudan and Ethiopia, and from the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria. Its Swahili name is Swala Granti.-Taxonomy and genetics:...
, hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
, leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
, lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, Thomson's gazelle
Thomson's Gazelle
The Thomson's gazelle is one of the best-known gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and, as a result, is sometimes referred to as a "tommie"...
, eland
Taurotragus
Taurotragus, commonly called Eland, is a genus of antelopes of the African savannah, containing two species: the Common Eland and the Giant Eland...
, impala
Impala
An impala is a medium-sized African antelope. The name impala comes from the Zulu language meaning "gazelle"...
, Masai giraffe
Masai Giraffe
The Masai Giraffe or Maasai Giraffe, also known as the Kilimanjaro Giraffe is the largest subspecies of giraffe and the tallest land mammal. It is found in Kenya and Tanzania.-Description:...
, ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
, vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
, and waterbuck
Waterbuck
The Waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in Sub-Saharan Africa.Waterbuck stand at the shoulder. Males weigh and females . Their coats are reddish brown in colour and become progressively darker with age; they have a white 'bib' under their throats and white on their rumps...
.
Herbivores, including wildebeest and zebra, use the Kitengela conservation area and migration corridor to the south of the park to reach the Athi-Kapiti plains. They disperse over the plains in the wet season
Wet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...
and return to the park in the dry season. The concentration of wildlife in the park is greatest in the dry season, when areas outside the park have dried up. Small dams built along the Mbagathi River give the park more water resources than these outside areas. They attract water dependent herbivores during the dry season. The park is the northern limit for wildlife migrations in the dry season. The park has a high diversity of bird species, with up to 500 permanent and migratory species in the park. Dams have created a man-made habitat for birds and aquatic species.
The David Sheldrick Trust runs a sanctuary in the park that hand-rears orphaned elephant and rhinoceros calves, and later releases them back into secure sanctuaries. Orphaned and sick animals are brought to the sanctuary from all over Kenya. The sanctuary is located close to the park's main entrance. It was opened in 1963. It was set up by Daphne Sheldrick
Daphne Sheldrick
Dame Daphne Sheldrick, DBE is a Kenyan author, conservationist and expert in animal husbandry, particularly the raising and reintegrating of orphaned elephants into the wild for over 30 years....
after the death of her husband David Sheldrick
David Sheldrick
Major David Leslie William Sheldrick, MBE was a Kenyan farmer and park warden, in memorium to whom the eponymous was created.-Early years:...
, the anti-poaching warden of Tsavo National Park
Tsavo East National Park
Tsavo East National Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in Kenya at 11,747 square kilometres. Opened in April 1948, it is located near the village of Voi in the Taita-Taveta District of Coast Province. The park is divided into east and west sections by the A109 road and a railway...
. Nairobi National Park is sometimes called Kifaru Ark, which means "Rhinoceros Sanctuary". It is one of Kenya's most successful rhinoceros sanctuaries, and it is one of only a few parks where visitors can be certain of seeing a black rhinoceros in its natural habitat.
Conservation
Tourism in Kenya
The tourist industry in Kenya is the 2nd largest source of foreign exchange revenue followed by agriculture. The main tourist attractions are photo safaris through the 19 national parks and game preserves. Other attractions include the mosques at Mombasa; the renowned scenery of the Great Rift...
Kenya's primary industry. However, it exacerbated problems between the human population and wildlife. Farmers living next to the parks did not have input into the establishment of the parks. Locals received very little benefit from the game animals. Livestock is threatened by lions, and some landowners think that Kenya's wildlife is not good for them. In 1948 188,976 people lived in Nairobi, and by 1997 the city's population had grown to 1.5 million. The park is under pressure from the city's growing population and need for farmland. People live right next to the park's boundaries, which creates human-animal conflicts. The human population also creates pollution and garbage. Effluent and industrial waste from factories located along the park's northern boundary contaminate the park's surface and ground water systems.
Treaties with the Maasai in 1904 and 1911 forced them to give up all of their northern grazing lands on the Laikipia escarpment near Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
. Some of the people that lost land there were resettled in the Kitengela area. The Maasai's pastoral life did not create any conflicts with the wildlife. Today the Kitengela has been divided into group ranches and some of the land has been sold to Kikuyu farmers. Houses, cultivated plots, schools, shops, and bars are found on the Kitengela plains. People living here suffer from the presence of predators. Some of the park's revenues have been used for community projects in order for the people living on the Kitengela to benefit from the presence of the national park. Many Maasai landowners have formed the Kitengela Landowners Association, which works with the Kenyan Wildlife Service to both protect the wildlife and find benefits for the locals.
The park and the Athi-Kapiti Plains are linked by the migrations of wild herbivore populations. The plains to the south of the park are important feeding areas during the wet season. Before the city was established, herds of animals followed the rains and moved across the plains from Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
to Mount Kenya, a migration as great as the migration that takes place on the Serengeti
Serengeti
The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa. It is located in north Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya between latitudes 1 and 3 S and longitudes 34 and 36 E. It spans some ....
. However, as the city grew the park became the northernmost limit of the animal's migration. Migrating animals can reach their southern pastures by travelling through the part of the Athi plains called the Kitengela. This land is very important to their migration routes, but growth in the human population and the accompanying need for land threaten to cut off this traditional migration route from the park to land further south. The park's migratory species are also threatened by changing settlement patterns, fencing, and their closeness to Nairobi and other industrial towns. These activities fragment their ecosystems and occupy their habitat.
Tourism and education
Nairobi National Park is the main tourist attraction for visitors to Nairobi. Visitor attractions include the park's diverse bird species, cheetah, hyena, leopard, and lion. Other attractions are the wildebeest and zebra migrations in July and August, the Ivory Burning Site Monument, and the Nairobi Safari Walk and animal orphanage. Inhabitants of Nairobi visit the park and thousands of African children on school field trips visit the park each week.The park's Wildlife Conservation Education Centre has lectures and video shows about wildlife and guided tours of the park and animal orphanage. These tours are primarily, but not exclusively, to educate schools and local communities. There has been criticism about animals' housing, and they now have more spacious housing in a more natural environment. The Kenya Wildlife Service
Kenya Wildlife Service
The Kenya Wildlife Service, otherwise known by the initialism KWS, is a Kenyan state corporation that was established in 1990 to conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife...
has created a Safari Walk that highlights the variety of plants and animals that are in Kenya, and how they affect Kenya's population.