Mago National Park

It lies on the eastern sides of a small branch of the eastern Rift Valley (Omo depression), in the South Omo Zone and located about 530 and 800 km southwest of Hawassa and Addis Ababa, respectively.

The Park is fortunate in possessing numerous rivers and streams, which are by far reasons for the rich wildlife resources of the area. Mago River rises from the northeast highlands of the area and cross the park (north to south) and feeds the Omo River (there are also different perennial rivers like Neri River and other streams, which are tributaries for Mago River in the park. Omo, Mago, and Neri rivers are typical features for the Mago National Park.

the Park supports a typical bush savanna fauna with 81 larger mammals & 237 species of bird. Among mammals: African elephant, buffalo, lesser-kudu, greater-kudu, duiker, warthog, tiang, lewel’s hartebeests, Oryx, grant’s gazelle, gerenuk, giraffe, cheetah, wild dog, lions, leopards, gureza, common baboon and verevt monkey are common & conspicuous.

Access

The Park is 800km and 500 km from to the south of Addis Ababa and Hawassa, respectively. The road from Jinka town to the park covers a distance of 34km all weather gravel road. The park has about 200km internal roads, which lead to the different attractions sites of the park.

Scenic Value
many national & foreign tourists in the Mago National Park commonly visit the following attractions. These includes the Hot Springs, Forest and savanna habitats, the topography (Murssi mountains and the different view points (Vantages over looking the park whole view) along the high way of Jinka-Murssi.

Surrounding Community

MNP area is also very well-known for its rich cultural diversity, where many elements of the earliest nomadic lifestyles are still continued. Hammer, Benna, Mursi, Ngagatom, Ari, Karo, Body, Kwegu are communities very well known for their traditional culture, lifestyles, colorful body decoration, ceremonies, festivals, rituals, and other living expressions.

Key Species
Buffalo,Elephant,lesser kudu

Address
Mago National Park
Mobile : +251-916-856-427 (Park Warden)
JInka

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Gambella National park

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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