Tsavo East National Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

at 13,747 square kilometres. Situated in a semi-arid area previously known as the Taru Desert it opened in April 1948, and is located near the town of

Voi Voi is the largest town in Taita-Taveta County in southern Kenya, in the former Coast Province. It lies at the western edge of the Taru Desert, south and west of the Tsavo East National Park. The Sagala Hills are to the south. Economy Voi is a ...

in the Taita-Taveta County of the former

Coast Province The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city at Mombasa and was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili, among oth ...

. The park is divided into east and

west West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

sections by the A109 road and a railway. Named for the Tsavo River, which flows west to east through the

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

, it borders the

Chyulu Hills National Park The Chyulu Hills is a mountain range in Makueni County in southeastern Kenya. It forms a 100-kilometre-long volcanic field in an elongated northeast–southwest direction. Its highest peak is 2,188 metres high. The Leviathan Cave (also ...

, and the

Mkomazi Game Reserve Mkomazi National Park is located in northeastern Tanzania on the Kenyan border, in Kilimanjaro Region and Tanga Region. It was established as a game reserve in 1951 and upgraded to a national park in 2006. The park covers over , and is dominate ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Geography

Inside Tsavo East National Park, the Athi and Tsavo rivers converge to form the Galana River. Most of the park consists of semi-arid grasslands and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...

. It is considered one of the world's biodiversity strongholds, and its popularity is mostly due to the vast amounts of diverse wildlife that can be seen, including the famous 'big five' consisting of

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

black rhino The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

, cape buffalo, elephant and

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

. The park is also home to a great variety of bird life such as the

black kite The black kite (''Milvus migrans'') is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae, although some populations have ...

crowned crane A crowned crane is a bird of the genus ''Balearica'': * Black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina'') * Grey crowned crane (''Balearica regulorum'') Some authorities use the term "crowned crane" to refer generally to the genus ''Balearica''. Like ...

lovebird Lovebird is the common name for the genus ''Agapornis'', a small group of parrots in the Old World parrot family Psittaculidae. Of the nine species in the genus, all are native to the African continent, with the grey-headed lovebird being native ...

and the

sacred ibis The African sacred ibis (''Threskiornis aethiopicus'') is a species of ibis, a wading bird of the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to much of Africa, as well as small parts of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. It is especially known for its role i ...

. Tsavo East National Park is generally flat, with dry plains across which the Galana River flows. Other features include the Yatta Plateau and

Lugard Falls Lugard may refer to: *Edward Lugard, British army officer. * Sir Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard, British colonial bureaucrat and military officer. * Lugard Footbridge, in Kaduna, Nigeria, named after Baron Lugard. *Lugard Road Lugard Road i ...

. Tsavo West National Park is more mountainous and wetter, with swamps,

Lake Jipe Lake Jipe is an inter-territorial lake straddling the borders of Kenya and Tanzania. On the Kenyan side, it is located south of the village of Nghonji while on the Tanzanian side, it is situated within Mwanga District, in Kilimanjaro Region. The ...

and the Mzima Springs. It is known for birdlife and for its large mammals. It is also home to a black rhino sanctuary.

Archaeology and history

Although a few Early Stone Age and

Middle Stone Age The Middle Stone Age (or MSA) was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of ...

archaeological sites are recorded from ground surface finds in Tsavo, there is much evidence for thriving

Late Stone Age The Later Stone Age (LSA) is a period in African prehistory that follows the Middle Stone Age. The Later Stone Age is associated with the advent of modern human behavior in Africa, although definitions of this concept and means of studying it a ...

economy from 6,000 to 1,300 years ago. Research has shown that Late Stone Age archaeological sites are found close to the Galana River in high numbers. The inhabitants of these sites hunted wild animals, fished and kept domesticated animals. Because of the sparse availability of water away from the Galana River, human settlement in Tsavo focused on the riparian areas and in rock shelters as one moves west. Swahili merchants 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. 19th century British and German explorers document people we now refer to as Orma and Watha during their travels through the "nyika" ("bush" or "hinterland") and generally viewed them as hostile toward their interests. Beginning in the late 19th/early 20th century, the British began a concerted effort to colonise the interior of Kenya and built a railway through Tsavo in 1898. Two "man-eating lions" terrorised the construction crews led by Lt. Col Patterson who eventually shot the pair not before they had killed one hundred and thirty five Indians and local workers. The railway was eventually completed through to

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin. Apart from being an important p ...

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

. Tsavo remained the homeland for Orma pastoralists and Watha hunter-gatherers until 1948, when it was gazetted a

. 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 Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established by an act of Parliament; Wildlife Conservation and Management Act CAP 376, of 1989, now repealed and replaced by the Wildlife Conservation and Ma ...

. Tsavo currently attracts photo-tourists from all over the world interested in experiencing the vastness of the wilderness and incredible terrain.

Major attractions

Mudanda Rock

The Mudanda Rock is a 1.6 km

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

of stratified rock that acts as a water catchment that supplies a natural dam below. It offers an excellent vantage point for the hundreds of elephants and other wildlife that come to drink during the dry season.

Yatta Plateau

The Yatta Plateau, the world's longest

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

, runs along the western boundary of the park above the

Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. The town is named after the Athi River, which passes through. It is also known as Mavoko. Athi River hosts the Mavoko Municipal Council and is the headquarters of Mavoko division ...

. Its 290 km length was formed by lava from Ol Doinyo Sabuk Mountain.

Lugard Falls

Lugard Falls, named after

Frederick Lugard Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard (22 January 1858 – 11 April 1945), known as Sir Frederick Lugard between 1901 and 1928, was a British soldier, mercenary, explorer of Africa and colonial administrator. He was Governor of Hong ...

, is a series of white water rapids on the Galana River.

Aruba Dam

Aruba Dam was built in 1952 across the

Voi River The Voi River (Goshi River) is a river in Coast Province, Kenya, East Africa. It originates in the Taita Hills and flows past the town of Voi and through the Tsavo East National Park before emptying into the sea at Kilifi. Its total length is about ...

. The

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

created by the dam attracts many animals and water birds.

Wildlife

Mammals

Tsavo East National Park is one of the world's largest game reserves, providing undeveloped wilderness homes to vast numbers of animals. Famous are the

Tsavo lion ''Panthera leo melanochaita'' is a lion subspecies in Southern and East Africa. In this part of Africa, lion populations are regionally extinct in Lesotho, Djibouti and Eritrea, and are threatened by loss of habitat and prey base, killing by loc ...

s, a population whose adult males often lack manes entirely. In total there are about 675 lions in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem.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 Lion Population.'
PDF
Living with Lions, Nairobi, Kenya, 9. Some of the many mammals found in the park include: * Aardwolf * Yellow baboon * Cape buffalo *

Senegal bushbaby The Senegal bushbaby (''Galago senegalensis''), also known as the Senegal galago, the lesser galago or the lesser bush baby, is a small, nocturnal primate, a member of the galago family Galagidae. The name "bush baby" may come either from the a ...

Bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ran ...

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ...

African wildcat The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022. In Cyprus, an African wil ...

Southeast African cheetah The Southeast African cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus jubatus'') is the nominate cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Ok ...

* African civet *

Kirk's dik-dik Kirk's dik-dik (''Madoqua kirkii'') is a small antelope native to Eastern Africa and one of four species of dik-dik antelope. It is believed to have six subspecies and possibly a seventh existing in southwest Africa. Dik-diks are herbivores, ty ...

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lyca ...

* African dormouse *

Blue duiker The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are ident ...

* Bush duiker * Harvey's red duiker *

Common eland The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus '' Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to and a body ...

Bat-eared fox The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during th ...

* Northern greater galago * Grant's gazelle *

Rusty-spotted genet The rusty-spotted genet (''Genetta maculata''), also called panther genet and large-spotted genet, is a genet that is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is considered common and therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...

* Common genet * Gerenuk *

Masai giraffe The Masai giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi'' or ''Giraffa tippelskirchi''), also spelled Maasai giraffe, and sometimes called Kilimanjaro giraffe, is a subspecies or species of giraffe. It is native to East Africa. The Masai gira ...

* African savanna hare * Springhare * Coke's hartebeest * Hunter's hartebeest * East African hedgehog *

Spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

* Striped hyena *

Yellow-spotted rock hyrax The yellow-spotted rock hyrax or bush hyrax (''Heterohyrax brucei'') is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, ...

Southern tree hyrax The southern tree hyrax (''Dendrohyrax arboreus''), also known as the southern tree dassie, is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. The southern tree hyrax is mainly found in the south central eastern side of Africa. Description The so ...

Impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus ''Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Ger ...

Black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southe ...

* Side-striped jackal *

Klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...

* Lesser kudu *

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

Banded mongoose The banded mongoose (''Mungos mungo'') is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelt ...

Dwarf mongoose The common dwarf mongoose (''Helogale parvula'') is a mongoose species native to Angola, northern Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Zambia and East Africa. It is part of the genus '' Helogale'', along with the Ethiopian dwarf mongoose. Ch ...

* Egyptian mongoose * Marsh mongoose * Slender mongoose * White-tailed mongoose *

Vervet monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus''. The five distinct ...

* Sykes' monkey *

Fringe-eared oryx The fringe-eared oryx (''Oryx callotis'' or ''Oryx beisa callotis''), is a large species or subspecies of oryx antelope native to east Africa. It was originally described as a distinct species by Oldfield Thomas in 1892, but was subsequently re ...

* Clawless otter *

Ground pangolin The ground pangolin (''Smutsia temminckii''), also known as Temminck's pangolin, Cape pangolin or steppe pangolin, is one of four species of pangolins which can be found in Africa, and the only one in southern and eastern Africa. The animal was n ...

* Crested porcupine * Cane rat * Giant rat *

Naked mole rat The naked mole-rat (''Heterocephalus glaber''), also known as the sand puppy, is a burrowing rodent native to the Horn of Africa and parts of Kenya, notably in Somali regions. It is closely related to the blesmols and is the only species in the ...

Honey badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is liste ...

Bohor reedbuck The bohor reedbuck (''Redunca redunca'') is an antelope native to central Africa. The animal is placed under the genus '' Redunca'' and in the family Bovidae. It was first described by German zoologist and botanist Peter Simon Pallas in 1767. T ...

Black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

* Serval * Elephant shrew * Bush squirrel * African red squirrel * Striped ground squirrel * Unstriped ground squirrel *

Suni The Suni (''Nesotragus moschatus'') is a small antelope. It occurs in dense underbrush from central Kenya to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Suni are around high at the shoulder and weigh . They are usually reddish brown, darker on their back t ...

Common warthog The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today th ...

* Ellipsen waterbuck *

Plains zebra The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii''), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south o ...

* Grevy's zebra.

Birds

Over 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, including

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...

es,

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus '' Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

weaver bird Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches and bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classifica ...

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandibl ...

secretary bird The secretarybird or secretary bird (''Sagittarius serpentarius'') is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savanna of the sub-Saharan region. John Frederick Miller describ ...

s and

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

Poaching

Between 2001 and 2006 more than 100 lions, elephants & other exotic wildlife have been killed in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem. Most of them have been speared by young men. The

poachers Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

usually do not face serious consequences. In contrast, the game scouts who arrested offenders have been punished by the community.

References

* 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 The ''Journal of African Archaeology'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering archaeological studies on Africa. It was established by Sonja Magnavita in 2003. From 2003 to 2016, the Centre for Interdisciplinary African Studies and ...

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

* http://www.tsavonationalpark.co.ke/tsavo-east-national-park-kenya-accommodation-safari-lodges-camps-hotels.html
The Watha People

* World Database on Protected Areas
Tsavo East National Park
{{authority control National parks of Kenya Athi-Galana-Sabaki River Protected areas established in 1948 Tsavo National Park Northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets