North Luangwa National Park is a national park in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, the northernmost of the three in the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

of the Luangwa River. Founded as a

game reserve A game reserve (also known as a wildlife preserve or a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals live safely or are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; ...

in 1938, it became a national park in 1972 and now covers 4,636 km². Like the

South Luangwa National Park South Luangwa National Park is in eastern Zambia, the southernmost of three national parks in the valley of the Luangwa River. It is a world-renowned wildlife haven which is known to locals simply as "the South Park."Concentrations of game along ...

, its eastern boundary is the Luangwa River, while it rises to cover a stretch of the Muchinga Escarpment to the west. The Mwaleshi River flows east–west through the Centre of the park, the area to its south being a strict wilderness zone. Wildlife is widely found, including Cookson's wildebeest, Crawshay's zebra and many antelopes and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

Elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

numbers have recovered from

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. The struggle against poaching in the park was described by Delia and Mark Owens in their book '' The Eye of the Elephant''. For many years, its wildlife suffered greatly from

, but recent years have seen poaching almost entirely stopped. It has generally suffered from a lack of investment and interest compared to the much more popular

, although its

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

are very similar to its southern counterpart. In 2003,

black rhino The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

s were re-introduced to the park. Since 2005, the protected area is considered a Lion Conservation Unit together with

.IUCN Cat Specialist Group (2006). Conservation Strategy for the Lion ''Panthera leo'' in Eastern and Southern Africa. IUCN, Pretoria, South Africa.

References

National parks of Zambia Protected areas established in 1938 Geography of Northern Province, Zambia Important Bird Areas of Zambia Central Zambezian miombo woodlands {{Protected-area-stub