Top 10 Facts about the Nairobi National Park
Top 10 Facts about the Nairobi National Park : Nairobi national park “The World’s only Wildlife Capital” is a unique national park in Kenya and a very rewarding Kenya wildlife destination found in Nairobi the capital of Kenya in about 7 kilometers south of the city centre.
Nairobi national park covers an area of 117 square kilometers encompassing of wide open grasslands, scattered acacia bush and back drop of the city scrapers. The park is faced on the three sides and the 4 side that is the Southern boundary is open allowing animals to migrate between Nairobi national park and the adjacent Kitengela plains.
Nairobi national park is a great destination to visit during your travels to Nairobi city and Kenya as well.
Nairobi national park is a great Kenya safari destination and here are the top 10 facts about the park.
- Nairobi national park is the closest National Park to a city in the world
Nairobi national park is the only national park in the world to be situated within a city, the park is situated just7 kilometers away from the city center of Nairobi city and it one of the major tourist attractions in the city. Nairobi national park has backdrop city skyscrapers, some of the tourist attractions in the park include diverse species of wildlife, birds, the Ivory Burning Site Monument and animal orphanage.
Wildlife in Nairobi national park include lions, leopards, African buffaloes, hippos, spotted hyenas, blue wildebeests, grant’s gazelles, common elands, impalas, olive baboon, black-backed jackal among others. Birds in Nairobi national park include Abyssinian thrush, Corncrake, Fischer’s lovebird, Grey crowned crane, Hartlaub’s bustard, Jackson’s widowbird, Kori bustard, Lappet-faced vulture, Lesser kestrel, Martial eagle, Pallid harrier, Secretary bird, Sharpe’s longclaw, Sooty falcon, White-bellied bustard and White-headed vulture among others.
A Kenya tour to Nairobi national park is an opportunity to enjoy exhilarating safari activities such as game drives, bird watching and nature walks among others.
- Nairobi National Park is the oldest park in Kenya
Nairobi national park is the oldest national park in Kenya gazetted in 1946, the park was established majorly to protect the animals and also solve the conflicts between humans and the increasing numbers of animals as it grew into a city in the 2oth century. The residents which lived in the area then were scared of the animals that they hard to walk with weapons to protect themselves from attacks.
Animals such as zebras and antelopes would ruin and destroy vegetable gardens and flower beds in the farms of the locals, the animals usually originated from the west and south of Nairobi to roam around the city. This prompted the British colonial government to establish the area aside a game reserve as Southern Game Reserve and the later was turned into the Nairobi national park.
- There are several birds and animal species in Nairobi National Park
Nairobi national park is home to a variety of wildlife and bird species, the park hosts over 600 recorded species of birds with 500 of them are permanent species and migratory species. These birds include Abyssinian thrush, Corncrake, Fischer’s lovebird, Grey crowned crane, Hartlaub’s bustard, Jackson’s widowbird, Kori bustard, Lappet-faced vulture, Lesser kestrel, Martial eagle, Pallid harrier, Secretary bird, Sharpe’s longclaw, Sooty falcon, White-bellied bustard, common Ostrich and White-headed vulture among others.
The herbivores in Nairobi national park use the Kitengela Conservation Area and the Migration Corridor to move to the south of the park and also reach the Athi-Kapiti plains.
Animals in Nairobi national park have different tendencies basing on the season, in the dry season the animals are normally seen congregating at the watering holes in the rivers in the park. In the wet season the animals spread all over the park due to plenty of green pasture to eat. The dams in the park have created a man-made habitat for birds and several aquatic species, they also attract water dependent herbivores most especially during the dry season.
Nairobi national park is the northern limit for the wildlife migration in the dry season.
- The Nairobi National Park is home to an Elephant orphanage
Nairobi national park is a home to an Elephant Orphanage established in the park in 1977, the orphanage is a rehabilitation center for orphaned baby elephants. Visiting the Elephant Orphanage offers tourists an opportunity to learn about the lives of the elephants and how they are rehabilitated back into the wilderness, Top 10 Facts about the Nairobi National Park.
The orphanage has two public visits where tourists can participate in feeding the elephants and watch them sleep under the same roof with their caregivers.
There is also The Sheldrick Animal Orphanage Sanctuary where rhinos are taken care of them, this sanctuary is a rehabilitation center and offers care for sick and injured animals.
- Four of the big five are part of the main attractions in Nairobi National Park is a home to 4 of the big 5
One of the major tourist attractions in Nairobi national park are the 4 of the big 5 including black rhino, leopards, cape buffaloes and lions. However, the park is also a home to other wildlife species such as cheetahs, hyenas, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes and a diverse birdlife with over 500 species recorded.
- Nairobi National Park has the highest number of black Rhinos
Nairobi national park is a home to the highest destiny of black rhinos in Kenya, the park is a rhino sanctuary with about 76 indigenous black rhinos and 13 white rhinos . The endangered species where transferred to Nairobi national park to protect them from poachers.
Black rhinos and white rhinos can easily be differentiated, the black rhinos are bush-browsers and carry their heads high. They also have a triangular mouth and hooked upper lip that changed from stripping leaves and thorns off bushes and low-growing trees.
The white rhinos get their name from a misnomer, these rhinos get their name in reference to their square upper lip. These rhinos are grazer, have longer necks and their heads are bigger, pitched downwards towards the ground.
- There are no Elephants in Nairobi National Park
Nairobi national park has no elephants making it one of the only two national parks in Kenya with no elephants, another national park is Lake Nakuru national park. initially the park had elephants, but they were moved from the park to reduce Human-Wildlife Conflict.
- There’s a tented camp in Nairobi National Park
Nairobi national park has one of the unique accommodations in Kenya in form of a tented camp which is one of its kind, Nairobi Tented Camp is a unique accommodation facility and one of its kind to be allowed in the park. The camp has 9 tents hosting 2 people each, these tents are self contained featuring toilets and showers, Top 10 Facts about the Nairobi National Park.
Nairobi Tented Camp offers an escape in to the wilderness and a camping experience in the heart of the thick bush land amidst a city.
- There are two other animal sanctuaries within Nairobi National Park
Nairobi national park hosts two animal sanctuaries found within the park, recently Kenya Wildlife Service created a Safari Walk in the park with the intentions of highlighting the variety of flora and fauna found in the park and how they affect Kenya’s population.
The Safari Walk is made of the raised wooded boardwalk allowing tourists to get uninterrupted views of animals and some of the many ecosystems including wetlands, savannah and forestry.
- It was at Nairobi National Park that the historic burning of Ivory took place
Nairobi national park hosts a historic ivory burning monument which is one of the tourist attractions in the park, in 1989, the then president of Kenya, the Late Daniel Arap Moi (the second president of Kenya) burnt 12 tons of illegal ivory. This was done as a way of putting an end to the ivory trade in Kenya and to save the elephants and rhinos from poachers
In 2016, another set of 105 tons of elephant ivory and 1.4 tons of rhino horns confiscated at the Kenyan airport while in transit were burnt.
