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Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Gnus zebras chobe national park.jpg
Gnus and zebras in Chobe National Park
Map showing the location of Chobe National Park
Map showing the location of Chobe National Park
Location Botswana
Nearest city Kasane
Coordinates 18°40′S 24°30′E / 18.667°S 24.500°E / -18.667; 24.500Coordinates: 18°40′S 24°30′E / 18.667°S 24.500°E / -18.667; 24.500
Area 11,700 km2 (4,500 sq mi)
Established 1967

Chobe National Park, in northern Botswana, has one of the largest concentrations of game in Africa. By size, it is the third largest park in the country, after the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Gemsbok National Park, and is the most biologically diverse. It is also Botswana's first national park.

The park can be divided up to 4 areas, each corresponding to one distinct ecosystem:

The original inhabitants of this area were the San bushmen (also known as the Basarwa people in Botswana). They were nomadic hunter-gatherers who were constantly moving from place to place to find food sources, namely fruits, water and wild animals. Nowadays one can find San paintings inside rocky hills of the park.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the region that would become Botswana was divided into different land tenure systems. At that time, a major part of the park's area was classified as crown land. The idea of a national park to protect the varied wildlife found here as well as promote tourism first appeared in 1931. The following year, 24,000 km2 around Chobe district were officially declared non-hunting area; this area was expanded to 31,600 km2 two years later.

In 1943, heavy tsetse infestations occurred throughout the region, delaying the creation of the national park. By 1953, the project received governmental attention again: 21,000 km2 were suggested to become a game reserve. The Chobe Game Reserve was officially created in 1960, though smaller than initially desired. In 1967, the reserve was declared a national park.

At that time there were several industrial settlements in the region, especially at Serondela, where the timber industry proliferated. These settlements were gradually moved out of the park, and it was not until 1975 that the whole protected area was exempt from human activity. Nowadays traces of the prior timber industry are still visible at Serondela.


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