Lengwe National Park is a
national park in
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
located near the town of
Chikwawa
Chikwawa is a town with a population of 6,114 according to the 2018 census located in the Southern Region, Malawi, Southern Region of Malawi on the west bank of the Shire River. It is the administrative capital of the Chikwawa District. Chikwawa l ...
and about 40 miles southwest of
Blantyre
Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...
. Lengwe's topography is unusual for Malawi and consists of open deciduous forests and dense thickets. It is the home of the reclusive
Nyala
The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described i ...
antelope.
The climate of Lengwe is hot and dry, and the only source of consistent water is from the rain. Many man-made water holes have been constructed to attract and maintain the animal population. Jambo Africa Ltd operates Nyala Lodge for visitors.
Animals that inhabit this park are the
giraffe,
spotted hyena,
leopard,
warthog
''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...
,
kudu
The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'':
* Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa
* Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa
The two species look similar, th ...
,
impala,
Samango monkey
Sykes' monkey (''Cercopithecus albogularis''), also known as the white-throated monkey or Samango monkey, is an Old World monkey found between Ethiopia and South Africa, including south and east Democratic Republic of Congo. It is named after Eng ...
,
reedbuck
Reedbuck is a common name for Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it ...
,
Cape buffalo and
suni. Interesting birds, particularly
shrikes,
rollers,
bee-eater
The bee-eaters are a group of non-passerine birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by ...
s and the
Yellow-spotted nicator.
History
In 1928, Lengwe was established as a Game Reserve to protect the large mammals found in the Lower Shire Valley, especially the nyala antelope and its habitat. This protection is important as the Lower Shire Valley is the farthest north where nyala can be found naturally.
At that time, the protected area measured 520 square kilometers. Later, it was reduced to 120 square kilometers in order to provide land for agriculture. This 120-km
2 is what is now referred to “Old Lengwe.” This did not contain the year-round water supply to the animals that the Shire had provided, 964 and 1970, four artificial waterholes were built throughout the area, and in 1970, Lengwe was given national park status.
In 1975, the extension area was added, increasing the size to 887 square kilometers. Lengwe was expanded mainly to protect the catchment areas of the Shire, Mwanza, and Nkombedzi wa Fodya rivers. The extension also has the effect of protecting beautiful rock outcrops in the area and increasing the dispersal area for wildlife.
The Park is managed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW.
National parks of Malawi
Protected areas established in 1970
Geography of Southern Region, Malawi
Zambezian and mopane woodlands
Important Bird Areas of Malawi
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