Waza National Park

Infobox_protected_area | name = Waza National Park
iucn_category = II


caption = Elephants in Waza National Park.
locator_x =
locator_y =
location = Far North Province, Cameroon
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 11
lat_minutes = 20
lat_seconds =
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 14
long_minutes = 44
long_seconds =
long_direction = E
area = 1,700 km²
established = 1934
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = Cameroon Ministry of Environment and the Protection of Nature.

Waza National Park ( _fr. Parc national de Waza) is a national park in Far North Province, Cameroon.cite web |url= http://www.fieldtripearth.org/article.xml?id=1189 |title= June 2005 Waza Anti-Poaching Report|accessdate=2007-01-28 |last=MacAllister|first=Mark|work= Field Trip Earth|publisher= North Carolina Zoological Society] It was founded in 1934, albeit as a hunting reserve, and covers a total of 1,700 km².cite web |url= http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/afrika/wcmc/waza.htm|title= World Conservation Monitoring Centre|accessdate=2007-01-28 |date=1983|work= ] The park became a National Park in 1968, and a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1979.cite web |url= http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=6106&m=0 |title= Waza National Park (Important Birds Areas of Cameroon)|accessdate=2007-01-28 |date= 2005|work= World Bird Database|publisher= BirdLife International]

Management

The park is managed by the Conservation Service of the Waza National Park, part of the Cameroon Ministry of Environment and the Protection of Nature. In 1983, the park had a staff of twenty-five rangers; however, as of 2005, that number had dropped to seven, and poachers from Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon itself were reported to have gone on a "rampage for the Park’s resources." Also in 2005 the Netherlands World Conservation Union Committee agreed to pay for an additional sixteen "eco-rangers" who would assist the regular ones.

Wildlife

Waza is home for lions and elephants and in particular for one of the last populations of the Western giraffe ("G. c. peralta").
Kob-antelopes have increased to 5000 in the 1990s since a strong decline in the 1980s. Other large ungulates are wart hog, roan, red-fronted gazelle and korrigum [Paul Scholte, Saleh Adam and Bobo Kadiri Serge: "Population trends of antelopes in Waza National Park (Cameroon) from 1960 to 2001: the interacting effects of rainfall, flooding and human interventions". African Journal of Ecology Volume 45 Issue 3, Pages 431 - 439. [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118511006/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 online] ] cite web |url= http://www.ufic.ufl.edu/wcpinterns/ruta.htm |title= WCP Intern Report|accessdate=2007-01-28 |date= |last= Sathaye|first= Ruta|work= ] . There are 379 species of birds in the park; among the birds that have been sighted are Marmaronetta angustirostris, Aythya nyroca, Aquila clanga, Falco naumanni, Neotis nuba, Ortyxelos meiffrenii, Ardeotis arabs, and Struthio camelus.

ee also

*Tourism in Cameroon

References