Tsavo East National Park
Tsavo East National Park | |
---|---|
Location | Kenya |
Coordinates | 2°46′43″S 38°46′18″E / 2.77861°S 38.77167°E |
Area | 13,747 km2 (5,308 sq mi) |
Established | 1948 |
Governing body | Kenya Wildlife Service |
Tsavo East National Park is a
Geography
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
Tsavo East National Park is generally flat, with dry plains across which the
The Yatta Plateau, the world's longest
Tsavo West National Park is more mountainous and wetter, with swamps, Lake Jipe and the Mzima Springs. It is known for birdlife and for its large mammals. It is also home to a black rhino sanctuary.[citation needed]
Archaeology and history
Although a few
Swahili people traded with the inhabitants of Tsavo for ivory, catskins, and probably slaves as early as 700 AD (and probably earlier). There is no evidence for direct Swahili "colonization" of Tsavo. Instead, trade was probably accomplished by moving goods to and from the Swahili Coast via extended kin-networks. Trade goods such as cowry shells and beads have been recovered from archaeological sites dating to the early Swahili period.[5]
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
19th century British and German explorers document people we now refer to as
Tsavo remained the homeland for Orma pastoralists and Watha hunter-gatherers until 1948, when it was gazetted a national park. At that time, the Orma with their livestock were driven off and the aboriginal population of the Watha people was forcefully relocated to Voi and Mtito Andei as well as other locations within the nearby Taita Hills. Following Kenyan independence in 1963, hunting was banned in the park and management of Tsavo was turned over to the authority that eventually became the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Wildlife
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
Tsavo East National Park is considered one of the world's biodiversity strongholds, providing undeveloped homes to vast numbers of animals.
Mammals
Famous are the
Some of the many mammals found in the park include:
- Aardwolf
- Yellow baboon
- African buffalo
- Senegal bushbaby
- Bushbuck
- Caracal
- African wildcat
- Southeast African cheetah
- African civet
- Kirk's dik-dik
- African wild dog
- African dormouse
- Blue duiker
- Bush duiker
- Harvey's red duiker
- Common eland
- African bush elephant
- Bat-eared fox
- Northern greater galago
- Grant's gazelle
- Rusty-spotted genet
- Common genet
- Gerenuk
- Giraffe
- African savanna hare
- Springhare
- Coke's hartebeest
- Hunter's hartebeest
- East African hedgehog
- Spotted hyena
- Striped hyena
- Yellow-spotted rock hyrax
- Southern tree hyrax
- Impala
- Black-backed jackal
- Side-striped jackal
- Klipspringer
- Lesser kudu
- African leopard
- Lion
- Banded mongoose
- Dwarf mongoose
- Egyptian mongoose
- Marsh mongoose
- Slender mongoose
- White-tailed mongoose
- Vervet monkey
- Sykes' monkey
- Fringe-eared oryx
- Clawless otter
- Ground pangolin
- Crested porcupine
- Cane rat
- Giant rat
- Naked mole rat
- Honey badger
- Bohor reedbuck
- Black rhinoceros
- Serval
- Elephant shrew
- Bush squirrel
- Red bush squirrel
- Striped ground squirrel
- Unstriped ground squirrel
- Suni
- Common warthog
- waterbuck
- Plains zebra
- Grevy's zebra
Birds
Over 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, including
Threats
Between 2001 and 2006, more than 100 lions, elephants and other wildlife have been killed in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem. Most of them have been speared by young men. The poachers usually do not face serious consequences. In contrast, the game scouts who arrested offenders have been punished by the community.[6]
References
- ^ "Tsavo National Parks". Tsavo Park.
- ^ "TSAVO LAND OF LEGENDS".
- ISBN 9781862390836.
- S2CID 140626061.
- ^ Wright, D. (2005). New perspectives on early regional interaction networks in East Africa: A view from Tsavo National Park, Kenya. African Archaeological Review 22(3): DOI: 10.1007/s10437-005-8041-7
- ^ a b Frank, L.; Maclennan, S.; Hazzah, L.; Hill, T.; Bonham, R. (2006). Lion Killing in the Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem, 2001–2006, and its Implications for Kenya's 5Lion Population (PDF) (Report). Nairobi, Kenya: Living with Lions.
- Kusimba, Chapurukha M.; Kusimba, Sibel B.; Wright, David K. (2005) The development and collapse of precolonial ethnic mosaics in Tsavo, Kenya. Journal of African Archaeology 3(2):345–365. JAfrArch
- Thorbahn, P. F., (1979) The Precolonial Ivory Trade of East Africa: Reconstruction of a Human-Elephant Ecosystem. Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
- Wijngaarden, W. v., and V. W. P. v. Engelen (1985) Soils and Vegetation of the Tsavo Area. Geological Survey of Kenya, Nairobi.
- Wright, David K. (2005) Environment, Chronology and Resource Exploitation of the Pastoral Neolithic in Tsavo, Kenya. PhD Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago. Wright Diss
- Wright, David K. (2005) New perspectives on early regional interaction networks in East Africa: A view from Tsavo National Park, Kenya. African Archaeological Review 15(3):111–141. AAR
- Wright, David K. (2007) Tethered mobility and riparian resource exploitation among Neolithic hunters and herders in the Galana River Basin, Kenyan Coastal Lowlands. Environmental Archaeology 12(1):25–47. Env. Archaeology
- Wright, David K.; Forman, Steven L.; Kusimba, Chapurukha M.; Pierson, James; Gomez, Jeanette; Tattersfield, Peter (2007) Stratigraphic and geochronological context of human habitation along the Galana River, Kenya. Geoarchaeology 22(7):709–730. Geoarch
- Patterson, John Henry. (1907) Man-Eaters of Tsavo. P 41 – 114.
External links
- World Database on Protected Areas – Tsavo East National Park World Database on Protected Areas: Tsavo East National Park[permanent dead link]