Gambella National park is located 850 km west of Addis Ababa. It was
established as a protected area in 1973 to conserve a diverse assemblage
of wildlife and unique habitats. The park area is home to the Nuer and
the Anuak people. Originally
the park was created for protection of extensive swamp habitat and ts
wildlife. Located on the Akobo river system it hosts several wildlife
not found elsewhere in Ethiopia. These include the nile lechwe and
white-eared kob. The banks of the baro are rich in birdlife and thus
give visitors an extra advantage. With its total area of approximately
50,600 ha, if it is the largest protected area in the country. Its
northern boundary is formed by the Baro River. To the south of the park,
the Gilo River flows from Gog to Tor in a northwesterly direction. The
landscape of Gambella is low and flat with altitude ranging from 400 to
768 masl. The average altitude is around 500 masl. The park is located
in the centre of Gambella Regional state between the rivers of Baro and
Gilo, Abobo is 82 km south of Gambella town on the river Baro
Agro-climatically, it is classified as Kolla and the climate is hot and
humid High temperatures are recorded just before the onset of rains in
May. Annual mean temperature is with a minimum and maximum of 20.4 and
34.8 0 C, respectively. 
Gambella teems with a wide variety of wildlife and 41 larger
mammals have been recorded here. The most common are Buffalo,
Giraffe,Taing (Topi), Waterbuck, Roan Antelope, White-eared Kob, Nile
Lechwe, Burchell’s Zebra, Bushbuck, Reedbuck, Warthog and Elephant. The
rivers host healthy populations of Hippopotamus and Nile Crocodiles. The
park has at least 300 bird species of which 11 are Sudan-Guinea Biome
species. Nile perch weighing up to 100 kg have been caught from the Baro
River. Besides these an unknown number of fish, amphibian and reptile
species are expected from this region.
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