Kasanka National Park is a park located in the Chitambo District of Zambia’s Central Province. At roughly 390 km2 (150 mi2), Kasanka is one of Zambia’s smallest national parks. Kasanka was the first of Zambia’s national parks to be managed by a private-public partnership. The privately funded Kasanka Trust Ltd has been in operation since 1986 and undertakes all management responsibilities, in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW - previously ZAWA). The park has an average elevation between 1,160 m (3,810 ft) and 1,290 m (4,230 ft) above mean sea level. It has a number permanent shallow lakes and water bodies with the largest being Wasa. There are five perennial rivers in the park, with the largest being the Luwombwa River. The Luwombwa is the only river that drains the NP, which flows out in the northwestern corner. It is a tributary of the Luapula, which further upstream also drains the Bangweulu Swamp and forms the main source of the Congo River. Although Kasanka NP is part of the Greater Bangweulu Ecosystem, there is no direct hydrological connection between the park and the Bangweulu Wetlands. A total of 114 mammal species have been recorded in the park including elephant, hippopotamus and sitatunga. A number of species have been reintroduced in the park by Kasanka Trust - the most successful of which are zebra and buffalo. Close to ten million straw-coloured fruit bats migrate to the Mushitu swamp evergreen forest in the park for three months during October to December, making it the largest mammal migration in the world. Over 471 bird species have been identified in the park. An airfield (ICAO: FLKA) lies there.
Topography and vegetation Kasanka has a varying altitude of 1,160 m (3,810 ft) and 1,290 m (4,230 ft) above mean sea level. The park is located in the Zambia in Serenje District of Zambia. While most sources quote the area of the park to be around 390 km2 (150 mi2), others record the area close to 450 km2 (170 mi2), making it one of the smaller national parks in the country. It has a relatively flat topography with few noteworthy relief features, with the exception of the Mambilima Falls located close to the Kasanka Conservation Centre and the rocky Mpululwe and Bwalya Bemba hills. Nine permanent lakes are found in the park and it is dissected by a network of rivers and streams. The larger rivers are the Luwombwa, Mulembo, Kasanka, Mulaushi and the swampy Musola River. The river streams and the lagoons have reed and papyrus beds. All of these rivers eventually shed their water via one another into the Luapula River, the only drainage outlet for the Bangweulu basin, and a major tributary of the Congo River.
Habitats
There are a variety of habitats in the park. Brachystegia woodland, otherwise known as Miombo Woodland, covers around 70% of Kasanka’s surface area, interspersed with grassy dambos. It is very rich in tree species and in many places forms a half closed canopy but also supports a well-developed herbaceous stratum. A high frequency of fires removes this stratum and young saplings and leads to Miombo Woodland with large, widely separated trees. Decades of “early burning” in the park have resulted in more natural Miombo with a strong presence of young trees and thicket species. Evergreen forests of three kinds occur within Kasanka; Mushitu or swamp forest, riverine forests and very small patches of Mateshe (dry evergreen forest). The Mushitu is characterised by huge red mahoganies, waterberries and quinine trees among others and is fairly well represented. The largest tract of intact Mushitu, in the Fibwe area, hosts the annual gathering of straw-coloured fruit bats from October to December making it the largest fruit bat roost on Earth. Riverine forests are found along most rivers in Kasanka, with the largest stretches being found along the Luwombwa. True Mateshe probably was common in historic times but is rare now, as a result of centuries of frequent fires. All forest types are at risk from frequent wildfires as the tree species they support are not resistant to fire. Chipya, also known as Lake Basin Woodland has interspersed trees and do not form a closed canopy. This allows sunlight that aids tall grasses to grow. Chipya is prone to very hot fires in the dry season, and this gives these woodlands their name as ‘chiya’ means ‘burnt’ in the local language. Chipya typically occurs on relatively soils and are thought to be a fire derivate form of Mateshe.
Dambos are grassy drainage channels and basins with little to no woody vegetation but very palatable grasses. Most woody species grow on exposed termitaria as dambos tend to retain water very well. Dambos are of a vital importance to grazing mammal species as well as several woodland mammals that choose to graze on the fringes, especially during the dry season. Several large (several square km) grassy plains occur within the park such as Chinyangali close to Fibwe and the Chikufwe plain east of the Luwombwa River. Papyrus swamps are considered the crown jewels of Kasanka with vast marshes supporting large tracts of thick papyrus swamp and home to the elusive sitatunga. Kasanka has nine permanent lakes and over 100 km (62 mi) of rivers flowing through the park. Many of the rivers, especially the Luwombwa in the west support riparian fringe forests on their banks. Large areas of grassy floodplains are found along the Kasanka, Mulembo and Luwombwa rivers. The rivers and lakes are host to a variety of fish and are rich in other forms of aquatic and semi-aquatic wildlife.
Fauna
Mammals
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