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To Be Combined With Usangu
Game Reserve Tanzania's Ruaha
National Park in the Southern Circuit will be
combined with Usangu Game Reserve, increasing its
size by over 15,000 square kilometers, making it
the largest National Park in Africa. Tanzania, the
largest country in East Africa, is reported to be
the last frontier of the enchanting Africa of the
past century, with twenty-five percent of the land
set aside for protected areas. There are currently
14 National Parks, with one new one in the works,
and 30 game reserves. According to
Gerald Bigurube, Director General, Tanzania
National Parks (TANAPA), "Tanzania is constantly
working on upgrading its game reserves to National
Parks. In a National Park there is no consumptive
use of resources and this allows for the
multiplicity of species, increasing the wildlife in
the parks" One of the aims of the government in
annexing Usangu to Ruaha is in part to save the
biodiversity of that area as well as to increase
tourism to the region. This can best be
accomplished if the area is administered and
marketed by TANAPA". Peter Mwenguo,
Managing Director, Tanzania Tourist Board, added
"Tanzania's tourism strategy is to encourage high
quality, low volume tourism. By increasing the
number of national parks, we are able to create
more diversity in the safari circuits and avoid
mass tourism." Ruaha, which
boasts 10,000 elephants, the largest population of
any East African national park, protects a vast
tract of the rugged semi-arid bush country that
characterizes central Tanzania. Its lifeblood is
the Great Ruaha River which courses along the
Eastern boundary of the park. A fine network of
game-viewing roads follows the Great Ruaha and its
seasonal tributaries, where, during the dry
season, impala, waterbuck and other antelopes risk
their life for a sip of life sustaining water. The
risk is considerable with prides of 20 plus lions
lording over the savannah, the cheetahs that stalk
the open grassland and the leopards that lurk in
tangled riverside thickets. Ruaha is also home to
over 450 bird species. The Usangu Game Reserve
includes the Ihefu Wetland, the natural water
reservoir for the Great Ruaha River. Tanzania is also
the home to Africa's highest and permanently
snow-capped Mt. Kilimanjaro; the Serengeti National
Park, where the unparallel spectacular annual
animal migration takes place and the Selous which
is the world's largest Game Reserve. The other
National Parks, Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Arusha,
Mahale, Gombe, Ruaha, Katavi, Rubondo, Mikumi and
Saadani (former Queen's Park), all play host to
millions of magnificent wildlife in the
wilderness. Other
attractions include the famous Ngorongoro Crater,
one of Tanzania's most incredible natural wonders,
as well as Olduvai Gorge (cradle of mankind), the
Marine Parks of Mafia Island and Mnazi Bay which
provide exciting deep sea fishing and aqua sports
and the exotic Spice Islands of
Zanzibar. For more
information on Tanzania visit
www.tanzaniatouristboard.com; on Tanzania National
Parks visit www.tanzaniaparks.com. In the US (212)
447-0027; email
Tanzania@bradfordglobalmarketing.com For more
information on Tanzania, visit the
www.tanzaniatouristboard.com; or contact the
Bradford Group, Tel. (212) 447-0027; email:
bradfordmktg@aol.com Photo captions:
Ruaha National Park, Photo credits: Joe McDaniel
& Chris Dawson The New 7th
Wonder of the World*: "The Great Migration"
including Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, A
World Heritage Site. * Named by ABC &endash;
TV's Good Morning America and USA
Today. |
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