African Elephants in Amboseli National Park Kenya
Amboseli national park was formerly called the Masai Amboseli game reserve and it is one of the ancient and the first protected areas in Kenya and in the whole of the East African Region with over 1600 Africa elephants. Amboseli National park is found in the Kajiado country and it covers 392 square kilometers of land. Despite the small size, the park is rich in biodiversity and several wildlife animals, and most importantly it is known as the park with the highest population of African elephants.
These Amboseli national Park elephants are permanent residents who can be found within the park all the time you go to visit the park. Additionally, the Amboseli national park is found in the backdrop of the Kilimanjaro Mountains and thus it offers wonderful views of this stunning and Spectacular Mountain. It is a popular game-watching destination in Africa and Kenya and it is the second most visited national park in Kenya after the Masai Mara National Reserve that is prominent for its wildebeest migration.
Amboseli national park features more than 1600 individual elephants which are free-ranging within the park. There are about 5 different habitats of then Amboseli National Park which have made it a favorable habitat for several wildlife animals and bird species.
The habitats of the Amboseli national park include the wetlands where elephants can be seen cooling themselves during strong sunny days. the park also features the open savannah grassland providing visitors with the wonderful opportunity to see these wonderful species especially elephants when they are grazing. apart from these habitats, Amboseli National Park also features several important habitats including the clear lake shores, the scattered acacia trees, and the woodland all supporting the animals and other wildlife. And these support a wonderful population of the wild animals’ species.
In fact, the Amboseli elephants are the highlights of any safari activity in the Amboseli national park and you cannot say that you have explored Kenya on the safari when you have not include Amboseli national park in your basket of activities or destination to explore while in Kenya.
The Amboseli word came from the Masai word which means salty dust and it is known for having the elephants with the longest tusks and the biggest. Even it has been found that in the world, the Amboseli national park has got the highest population of elephants. Before, the elephants had reduced due to the impact of parching and the human-wildlife conflicts. However, the government of Kenya through the Kenyan Wildlife Services controlled parching and strengthened the conservation strategies that saw the number of elephants increasing.
There is a full elephant research project has also contributed much toward the population growth of the African elephants in the Amboseli national park. This project was established via the Amboseli Trust for the elephants whose main purpose was to conserve and improve the well-being of the elephants within the Amboseli National Park. the projects trained the member of the local community and this created community awareness, training, and advocacy in the conservation measures. And this ensure that the research continued and improved the elephants.
Most of the visitors who want to experience the true African wildness have come to Amboseli national park and because the elephants are permanent creatures in the Amboseli national park, any time you come you will be able to see the elephants grazing within the Amboseli national park. while on game drives, you can see a large herd of elephants grazing in the group of 50 to 100 individual elephants and they like spraying themselves with soil and at times you can see them playing with their calves at the shores of Lake Amboseli as they cool themselves which is so interesting.
There are also other wild animals in the Amboseli national other than elephants. So don’t think that you will only see the elephants in the Amboseli national park. There are also other animals which include leopards, lions, serval cats, and cheetahs among others. There are other animals such as the wildebeest, gazelles, kobs, topis, hyenas, Impalas, warthogs among others. The presence of these animals makes the safaris to Amboseli National park so fantastic as you experience a lot of wildlife in addition to elephants. Visitors still can explore the elephants of the Amboseli National Park through the air via the hot air balloon safaris.
Other than animals, the Amboseli national park features more than 420 species of birds that are found in the park. 4o species of these bird species-area prey and it is the only park with the large prey bird species in east Africa. Because the park features several habitats, it makes it so easy to go for the birds to habit these habitats and offers a wonderful atmosphere. Some of the bird species available include the grater flamingo birds, secretary birds, papyrus gonolek, Martial Eagles, Hammerkop, Fish eagle, African Jacaranda, African Swamphen, Owls, Hornbill, Herons, Love birds, Vultures, Grey-crowned crown among other bird species.
The other things to see Amboseli National Park include visiting the local Masai People, the scenic views of the Kilimanjaro Mountains, Lake Amboseli, and other species that are available in the Amboseli National Park
We need to thank the Amboseli Trust for Elephants via the Amboseli research project for working tirelessly to ensure that the elephants in the Amboseli national park are well protected and conserved, Amboseli is one of the rare conservation areas in Kenya where the number of elephants kept on increasing on the daily basis. Through the local participation, the locals are fully engaged in the promotion and conservation of elephants on the Amboseli national park and therefore your safari to this park is so rewarding.
