Wildlife + Ecology

Hwange National Park at 14,651 sq km is the largest national park in Zimbabwe and one of Africa’s great parks. It was granted game reserve status in 1928 and proclaimed a national park in 1961.

Hwange has always been renowned for its incredible diversity of wildlife, and to this day it boasts more varieties of mammal and bird species than any other Zimbabwean national park. There are over 100 species of mammals, including 19 large herbivores such as buffalo, eland, sable, and wildebeest, and over 400 bird species. However, the area is particularly famous for its population of elephant, some 44,000 strong—based on the latest aerial survey—and combined with the elephants of northern Botswana this is the world’s largest contiguous elephant population and a flagship for the Kavango Zambezi Trans Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).

During our wet season months from December through March, the ancient lake systems still fill with water; and the open grasslands are flooded, attracting migratory birds from all over Eurasia and Africa. Over 300 species have been recorded in the Bomani and Camelthorn area, both migrants and residents.