Animal list in Amboseli National park
Animal list in Amboseli National park : Amboseli national park formerly known as Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve is the second popular national park and safari destination in Kenya, the park is famous for being the best place in the world to get to the free – ranging elephants. Amboseli national park is located in the southern part of Kenya in Kajuado South Constituency in Kajiado County, the park is at a size of 392 square kilometers at the core of an 8,000 square kilometers ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya – Tanzania border.
Amboseli national park is situated about 4 hours away from the Nairobi the capital city, though Amboseli is relatively small it hosts many attractions including wildlife, the back of Mount Kilimanjaro – the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest free – standing mountain in the world.
Wildlife in Amboseli national park
Amboseli national park is a home to a wide range of animals found in the different habitats of the national park, some of the animals in the park live in the water, around the swampy areas and the open savannah grasslands. The different animal habitats found in Amboseli national park include The Acacia Woodland, Open dry plains, Savannah grasslands, Rocky and Bushy vegetation, Lakes and Swamps, Animal list in Amboseli National park.
These habitats have greatly helped in conserving the ecosystem of Amboseli national park and has resulted into a big concertation of the different types of animals found in Amboseli national park, viewing of the animals can be done in the open grasslands especially during the dry season. This is when the vegetation is thin and sparse making it easy to spot the animals.
Amboseli national park hosts a long list of different types of animals including zebras, giraffes, antelopes, wildebeest, hyenas, the big five, and elephants, cheetahs although rare, kudus, wildebeests, crocodiles and many more others.
Amboseli Elephants
Elephants are the major highlight and tourist attraction in Amboseli national park, the park hosts over 500 elephants that have been recorded and these can be seen strolling freely around the plains of the park. Though they can be seen all around the park, the best viewing of the Amboseli elephants is at the banks of Lake Amboseli where most of the large animals gather especially during the dry season.
Elephants in Amboseli national park are grouped into 58 families and these have over 300 male elephants, elephant herds are led by folder females which keep the young ones safe from predators. The female elephants have a gestation period of 660 days to know more about the Amboseli elephants.
To more about elephants in Amboseli national park, you can visit the research center which was set up to conserve the elephants, to gain access to the research center you need to book earlier as it is quite difficult to gain access to the research center but with prior communication you might get lucky.
The Big Five in Amboseli
Many tourist on a Kenya safari to Amboseli visit the park to look out for the big Five and the same applies to Africa, Amboseli national park was a great spot for watching the big Five but currently the black rhinos are missing in the park due to poaching. As a tourist you can see the other Big Five including lions – the kings of the jungle, elephants, leopards which are known to be lethal and shy and the cape buffaloes, Animal list in Amboseli National park.
Activities in Amboseli national for wildlife viewing
Amboseli national park offers several Kenya safari activities that give tourists good views of animals, these include Balloon safaris, game viewing drives, boat cruises and nature walk safaris.
Balloon safaris in Amboseli
Amboseli national park is one of the few wildlife safari destinations in Kenya offering hot air balloon safaris, this amazing experience is perfect for wildlife viewing (aerial views). Balloon safaris are charged separately from the Amboseli park entrance fees and are normally carried out in the morning hours purposely to offer you the best views of the sunrise over the snow-capped summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Amboseli plains, the ride carries a minimum of 8 people and a maximum of 16 people.
Balloon safaris offer visitors clear views of Kilimanjaro Mountain, birds, animals, landscapes and surrounding areas of Amboseli national park, the balloon rides normally take you where the wind blows so each ride offers a new experience and it lasts for one hour. The hot air balloon experience in Amboseli national park ends with a toast of Champagne.
Game drives
Game drives also known as Game viewing drives in Amboseli national park is best way to explore the plains of Amboseli and viewing the animals, Amboseli offers two game drives that is in the morning and evening game drives. On special occasions, night game drives are offered in the conservancies of Amboseli national park at an extra cost.
Morning game drives in Amboseli national park start as early as 06:30 in the morning, morning game drives are the most rewarding wildlife viewing drives because many of the animals are up and about searching for food in the morning before the scotching sun comes out which forces them into hiding. Morning game drives is also the best time for one to go for birding, Animal list in Amboseli National park.
Afternoon game drives in Amboseli national park are also rewarding and they start at about 02 or 03 pm till 6:00 pm, night game drives are also offered and they offer tourists a chance to view the nocturnal animals in the park such as the big cats (lions and leopards).
Boat cruises
Boat cruises in Amboseli national park are done along Lake Amboseli, this experience offers the best viewing for water animals like hippos, crocodiles and water birds. Animals in Amboseli national park converge around Lake Amboseli to cool down making it the best place to view the Amboseli animals while on a boat cruise.
Nature walk safaris
Nature walks in Amboseli national park are the best experience to get close to wildlife in Amboseli national park, this experience is done in company of an armed ranger and guides “Masai guide and armed ranger”. Nature walks are best done in the morning and late afternoons.
Note: tourists are not allowed to walk around the park alone as this might be dangerous
Rules and regulations in Amboseli National Park
A set of rules and regulations were set up by the management of Amboseli national park that is Kenya Wildlife Services “KWS” , they were set up to protect the animals from being hurt by tourists and also reduce poaching at the same time. These rules have to be followed and failure to do so bring about fines to whoever breaks one of them, the rules and regulations have so far improved the conservation of the park’s ecosystem, Animal list in Amboseli National park
Rules and regulations in Amboseli national park are as follows
- Do not feed the animals.
- Do not litter the National Park
- You are not allowed to over speed while driving in Amboseli National Park
- Keep a distance between you and the animals
- Do not approach the animals.
- You are not supposed to approach the animals
Best time for visiting Amboseli
The best time of the year for visiting Amboseli national park is during the dry season which is experienced in January and February and then from June to October which is considered to be the best time for viewing wildlife in Amboseli national park. In the dry season, the grass is always thin and sparse during the dry season which eases the spotting of different types of animals.
