The Mahango Game Park (also known as the Mahango Game Reserve) is a protected area in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

within Bwabwata National Park. It is situated at the country's eastern border with

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

in the flood plains of the

Okavango River The Okavango River (formerly spelled Okovango or Okovanggo), Also known as the Cubango River, is a river in southwest Africa. It is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa, running southeastward for . It begins at an elevation of in ...

basin, close to the

Popa Falls Popa (''priest'' in Romanian) may refer to: People *Alina Popa (born 1978), Romanian-Swiss, IFBB professional bodybuilder * Anatolie Popa (1896–1920), Moldavian military commander *Celestina Popa (born 1970), Romanian, artistic gymnast *Constanti ...

on the river. The

Caprivi Strip The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is surrounded by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a sin ...

encloses the western part of the park. It was established in 1986 and covers an area of . With over 300 species of birds, it has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

. About two thirds of the bird species found in Namibia are located here as it includes both wetland and tropical terrestrial species of birds.

Geography

The park is located in the western end of the

and forms part of the large flood plains of the Okavango River basin in north-eastern Namibia between Andara Mission bordering Botswana. Topography of the park is in the elevation range of 500 - 1,000m. The Okavango Swamps starts from this park area and is known as the panhandle region. The Okavango River flows into Botswana forming the

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...

in that country. The park is subject to a dry season lasting from April to November and the rainy season from mid-November to April. The annual rainfall incidence varies between 550 and 600 mm and 80% of it occurs during the rainy season. The monthly average maximum temperature is reported as 30 °C.

Flora

Vegetation consists of 38%

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

and 62% grass land.

Riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...

s are an important form of dense vegetation against the dry woodlands in the higher reaches of the river valley and reed beds, swamps, and open flooded grasslands of the flood plains. In view of this varying vegetational pattern, the park is rich in flora; with a reported 869 species from 88 families. The important riparian woodland species are ''

Garcinia ''Garcinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Clusiaceae native to Asia, America, Australia, tropical and southern Africa, and Polynesia. The number of species is disputed; Plants of the World Online (POWO) recognise up to 400. Common ...

'', '' Sclerocarya,'' ''

Diospyros ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark tim ...

'', ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' and ''

Grewia ''Grewia'' is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, Grewia was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanniaceae. However, these ...

''. The species reported from the desert areas are ''

Pterocarpus ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarpus'' ...

'', ''

Ricinodendron ''Ricinodendron'' is a plant genus in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1864. It includes only one known species, ''Ricinodendron heudelotii'', native to tropical Africa from Senegal + Liberia east to Sudan and Tanzania and ...

'', ''

Ziziphus ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world. The leaves are alternate, entire, with three promi ...

'', ''

Baikiaea ''Baikiaea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Species include: *'' Baikiaea fragrantissima'' *'' Baikiaea ghesquiereana'' *'' Baikiaea insignis'' *''Baikiaea plurijuga'' – Rhodesian-teak *'' Baikiaea robynsii' ...

'' and shrubs of ''

Baphia ''Baphia'' is a small genus of legumes that bear simple leaves. ''Baphia'' is from the Greek word βάπτω (''báptō-'', "to dip" or "to dye"), referring to a red dye that is extracted from the heartwood of tropical species. The genus is restr ...

.'' The flood plains have ''

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

'' and baobab (''

Adansonia ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...

''); the baobab trees in the park are very large. One of the more commonly found trees in the park is the baobab.

Fauna

It has very rich diversity of mammal species; 99 species are reported, including elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, and hippopotami. Some of the key species which are under the threatened list are '' Lycaon pictus pictus'' (EN), ''

Loxodonta africana The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to and a body ...

'' (VU), '' Kobus leche'', and '' Lutra maculicollis'' (VU) found mostly in aquatic environment; ''Loxodonta africana'' and '' Kobus leche'' also migrate to neighboring countries. There are 71 aqua faunal species and five species of amphibians such as '' Phrynomantis affinis''.

Avifauna

The avifaunal species consists of wetland birds such as '' Egretta vinaceigula'', '' Bugeranus carunculatus'', '' Ardeola rufiventris'', ''

Pelecanus rufescens The pink-backed pelican (''Pelecanus rufescens'') is a bird of the pelican family. It is a resident breeder in the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa and southern Arabia; it has also apparently extirpated in Madagascar. Taxonomy The pink-backe ...

'', '' Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'', '' Microparra capensis'', '' Vanellus albiceps'', '' Vanellus crassirostris'', '' Glareola pratincola'', '' Macronyx ameliae'' and ''

Circus pygargus Montagu's harrier (''Circus pygargus'') is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu. Taxonomy The first formal description of Montagu's harrier was by the Swedish na ...

''. In the riverine habitat, the bird species of importance are '' Glareola nuchalis'' and ''

Rynchops flavirostris The African skimmer (''Rynchops flavirostris'') is a species of bird belonging to the skimmer genus ''Rynchops'' in the family Laridae. It is found along rivers, lakes and lagoons in Sub-Saharan Africa. Description African skimmers have long w ...

'', and in the fringing riparian vegetation '' Scotopelia peli'' and '' Gorsachius leuconotus'' species have been recorded.

References

{{authority control National parks of Namibia Protected areas established in 1986 1986 establishments in South West Africa