Borana National Park (also known as Borena National Park) is a wildlife sanctuary located in the

Borena Zone Borena ( Oromo: ''Boorana'') is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Borena is named after one of the two major subgroups of the Oromo people. Borena is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peo ...

of the

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Geography

Borana National Park is located in southern Ethiopia. It covers an area of 45,366 km². The park lies at the southern edge of the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...

. It is bounded on the south by the

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

–Ethiopia border. It adjoins Chelbi Wildlife Reserve to the west, Geraille National Park to the east, and Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary and Arero National Forest Priority Area to the north. The park conservation sites are divided into multiple blocks based on their biodiversity, community, and environment: Yabello, Dida-Hara, Gammedo, Danbala-Dhibayu, and Sarite blocks. The park is home to ''Booqee Sadeen'', three maar lakes that were introduced as the main tourist attraction, including El Sod which is known for providing access to mineral water and salt varieties for the locals.

Wildlife

Flora

Borana national park contains about 327 species discovered in Borena region which are distributed among 197 genera and 69 families are documented: 40% are trees/shrubs, 30% are forbs (non-woody plants other than grasses and sedges), 16% are grass, 10% are climbers, 2% are sedges, and 2% are succulents. Most of the park areas are part of the Somali Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets ecoregion."Borana". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 3 March 2022
/ref> The

Ethiopian montane forests The Ethiopian montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Ethiopia. It covers the southwestern and southeastern portions of the Ethiopian Highlands. The ecoregion includes distinctive Afromontane evergreen forests. The ecoreg ...

ecoregion extends into the north-central portion of the park and includes dry

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions o ...

regions located on the mountainous region close of

Arero Arero is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Borena Zone, Arero is bordered on the southwest by Dire, on the west by Yabelo, on the north by Bule Hora, on the northeast by the Guji Zone, on the east by the Somali Region, and on the ...

along with dry evergreen trees, and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

trees. The Sarite block is mostly covered with widespread grassland and dry open savannah whereas the Dida-hara block contains drought-resistant woodlands that consisted of Boscia mossambicensis and

Acacia tortilis ''Vachellia tortilis'', widely known as ''Acacia tortilis'' but now attributed to the genus ''Vachellia'' of the Mimosa Family ( Mimosaceae), is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as umbrella thorn and Israeli babool, a medium to large canop ...

Fauna

Borana National Park is home to at least 40 species of mammals. It is uniquely known for providing sanctuary for two separate species of

zebras Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped Animal coat, coats. There are three Extant taxon, living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and t ...

that are found within grasslands and woodland areas: the Plain zebras and the endangered Grevy's zebras. Other mammals that are rarely found in Borana National Park include

lesser kudu The lesser kudu (''Tragelaphus imberbis'') is a medium-sized bushland antelope found in East Africa. The species is a part of the ungulate genus '' Tragelaphus'' (family Bovidae), along with several other related species of striped, spiral-horne ...

greater kudu The greater kudu (''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'') is a large woodland antelope, found throughout East Africa, eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory (animal), territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas d ...

black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas'') is a medium-sized Caninae, canine native to East Africa, eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly . One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, includin ...

Beisa oryx The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa''), also known as the beisa, is a species of medium-sized antelope from East Africa. It has two subspecies: the common beisa oryx (''Oryx beisa beisa'') found in steppe and semidesert throughout the Horn of A ...

es,

gerenuk The gerenuk (''Litocranius walleri''), also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked, medium-sized antelope found in parts of East Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Litocranius'', the gerenuk was first described by the naturalist Vi ...

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

Soemmerring's gazelle Soemmerring's gazelle (''Nanger soemmerringii''), also known as the Abyssinian mohr, is a gazelle species native to the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan). The species was first described and given its scientific ...

s, and

Grant's gazelle Grant's gazelle (''Nanger granti'') is a relatively large species of gazelle antelope, distributed from northern Tanzania to South Sudan and Ethiopia, and from the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria. Its Swahili name is ''swala granti''. It was named ...

s. The herds of

Swayne's hartebeest Swayne's hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei'') is an endangered antelope native to Ethiopia. Two of the largest remaining populations are located in Senkelle Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary, Nechisar National Park and Maze National Park. It ...

once thrived here but were extirpated from these regions. Similar to Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary, Borana National Park provides multiple bird species recorded at least 280. Ethiopian bushcrows,

white-tailed swallow The white-tailed swallow (''Hirundo megaensis'') is a small swallow belonging to the family Hirundinidae and is endemic to Oromia, Ethiopia.Gedeon, K., Zewdie, C., & Töpfer, T. (2017). The birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an annotated check ...

s, Prince Ruspoli’s turacoes, and black-fronted spurfowls are four endemic species found within the park that are considered endangered. Other birds include

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

es,

short-tailed lark The short-tailed lark (''Spizocorys fremantlii'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are dry savannah, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical ...

Red-bellied parrot The red-bellied parrot (''Poicephalus rufiventris'') is a small African parrot about 23 cm (9 in) long of the genus ''Poicephalus''. The genus Poicephalus has the greatest quantity of species and is widely spread in Africa. It is a mos ...

s, Pringle's puffbacks, northern grey tits,

eastern yellow-billed hornbill The Eastern yellow-billed hornbill (''Tockus flavirostris''), also known as the northern yellow-billed hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania ...

, Abyssinian grosbeak-canaries,

Superb starling The superb starling (''Lamprotornis superbus'') is a member of the starling family of birds. It was formerly known as ''Spreo superbus''.

vulturine guineafowl The vulturine guinea fowl (''Acryllium vulturinum'') is the largest extant species of guinea fowl. Systematically, it is only distantly related to other guinea fowl genera. Its closest living relative, the white breasted guinea fowl, ''Agela ...

, Somali sparrows,

black-capped social weaver The black-capped social weaver (''Pseudonigrita cabanisi'') is a sparrow-like species of bird that has been assigned to the weaverbird family. It was originally described by Fisher and Reichenow, and later re-classified by the latter to the gen ...

s, Donaldson Smith's nightjars, star-spotted nightjars, grey-headed social weavers, magpie starlings,

little spotted woodpecker The little spotted woodpecker or green-backed woodpecker (''Campethera cailliautii''), is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is native to large parts of tropical central Africa. It has an extensive range and is an uncommon species, and t ...

s, grey-headed silverbills, and tawny pipits are found within Borana National Park.

Conservation

The park's area is established to help restore wildlife along with the community based on environmental recovery and ecological changes, which include repopulating zebra species, protecting the Bush crow's population, and drought prevention. During its establishment, the area was formerly designated as a controlled hunting zone and was later redesignated as a national park because of its poor management. The park is administered by the Oromia Forest & Wildlife Enterprise (OFWA) of the Oromia Region government along with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA). Today, the area was now facing multiple threats and challenges that might threaten the park's ecosystem such as droughts, invasive species expansions, livestock overgrazing, and road collisions.Bussa, B. (2022). Community Perceptions and Challenges to Wildlife Conservation, the Case of Borana National Park, Southern Ethiopia. Agricultural Science Digest. DOI: 10.18805/ag.DF-455

References

{{National Parks of Ethiopia National parks of Ethiopia Protected areas of Oromia Somali Region 2017 establishments in Ethiopia Protected areas established in 2017