Amboseli Reserve

Infobox_protected_area
name = Amboseli National Park
iucn_category = II

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caption = Location of Amboseli National Park
base_width = 300px
locator_x = 52
locator_y = 118
location = Rift Valley Province, Kenya
nearest_city = Nairobi
lat_degrees = 02
lat_minutes = 38
lat_seconds = 29
lat_direction = S
long_degrees = 37
long_minutes = 14
long_seconds = 53
long_direction = E
area = 392 km²
established = 1974 as a national park (as a reserve in1906)
visitation_num = 120,000 (estimated)
visitation_year = 2006
governing_body = Kenya Wildlife Service, Olkejuado County Council and the Maasai community

Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is in Kajiado District, Rift Valley Province in Kenya. The park is convert|39206|ha|km2 sqmi|0| [cite web |url=http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/wdbpa/sitedetails.cfm?siteid=758&level=nat |title=World Database on Protected Areas: Amboseli Nationalpark |publisher=sea.unep-wcmc.org|accessdate=2008-07-28] in size at the core of an convert|8000|km2|sqmi ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area (average convert|350|mm|in|abbr=on) one of the best widlife-viewing experiences in the world. The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semi-arid vegetation.

convert|260|km|mi from the capital city Nairobi, Amboseli National Park is the third most visited game area in Kenya after Maasai Mara National Reserve and Nakuru National Park and the visit can easily be done in a weekend.

In 1883, Joseph Thompson was the first European to penetrate the feared Maasai region known as "Empusel" (meaning 'salty, dusty place' in Maa). He, too, was astonished by the fantastic array of wildlife and the contrast between the arid areas of the dry-lake bed and the oasis of the swamps, a contrast that persists today.

Amboseli was set aside as the 'Southern Reserve' for Maasai in 1906 but returned to local control as a Game Reserve in 1948. Gazetted a National Park in 1974 in order to protect the core this unique ecosystem, it was declared a UNESCO Man and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Amboseli_Biosphere_Reserve Biosphere Reserve] in 1991. The park earned $ 3.5 m (€ 2.9 m) in 2005. On September 29, 2005, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared that control of the park should pass from the Kenya Wildlife Service to the Olkejuado County Council and the Maasai tribe. Some observers saw this as a political favor in advance of a vote on a new Kenyan constitution: legal challenges are currently in court. The degazetting would divert park admission fees directly to the County Council with questionable spread of benefits to the Maasai immediately surrounding the park. It would set an unfortunate precedent that could jeopardise the status of other parks in Kenya.

The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants. [cite web
url=http://elephanttrust.org/|title=ATE | Amboseli Trust for Elephants|publisher=elephanttrust.org|accessdate=2008-03-17] Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet Maasai and spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

There is a small airport in Amboseli, the Amboseli Airport (HKAM).

References

External links

* [http://www.kws.org/amboseli.html Kenya Wildlife Service – Amboseli National Park] (official site)
* [http://www.webkenya.com/eng/safari/amboseli.php webkenya.com – Road map, Park map & Things to see in the park]
* [http://www.kenyalogy.com/eng/parques/amboseli.html kenyalogy.com – Kenya Safari Guide]
* [http://elephanttrust.org/ Amboseli Trust for Elephants]