Mana Pools National Park

　　Introduction    Together with the Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas, it forms three wildlife conservation zones located in the region northeast of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, bordering Zambia. Established in 1963 and 1964 respectively, their areas are 2,196 km², 3,390 km², and 1,180 km². This area boasts exceptionally rich natural wildlife resources, especially on the low-lying plains where numerous mammals gather during the dry season—such as the endangered black rhinoceros and Nile crocodiles. In addition, there are over 6,500 African elephants and more than 380 species of birds inhabiting the bushland. It’s a rare natural heritage for humankind, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982.    These three wildlife reserves lie within the same grassland-forest biogeographic zone, extending northward from the 30-kilometer-long Mupata Gorge along the Zambezi River. Upstream from the Mupata Gorge, the river widens, with sandbars forming many midstream islands and sandy beaches, while towering cliffs line both banks of the Zambezi. The riverbanks feature vast highlands covered with a variety of montane plants, scattered dry deciduous thickets, and open woodlands, providing an ideal habitat for wildlife to live and breed.    Visitors here often encounter astonishing scenes: just over a hundred steps ahead, a patch of low bushes shakes violently, then small trees snap and fall, revealing an elephant that flaps its ears, picks up the fallen leaves, and chews slowly... After eating its fill, the elephant snorts contentedly and ambles deeper into the forest. A herd of wild horses suddenly gallops toward you from afar, like a yellow wave sweeping across the plain, only to halt abruptly not far ahead, forming a half-circle and tilting their heads to look at you before disappearing into the grasslands like the wind—only to come charging back toward you again.

　　　　 

　　 Zimbabwe Harare