North Luangwa National Park is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

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 ...

, 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 over ...

of the

Luangwa River The Luangwa River is one of the major tributaries of the Zambezi River, and one of the four biggest rivers of Zambia. The river generally floods in the rainy season (December to March) and then falls considerably in the dry season. It is one of ...

. 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

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

, while it rises to cover a stretch of the

Muchinga Escarpment Muchinga may refer to: * Muchinga (constituency), a constituency of the National Assembly of Zambia *Muchinga Province Muchinga Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. It is located in the northeast of the country and borders with Tanzania ...

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

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...

s 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 ag ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. The struggle against poaching in the park was described by

Delia Delia is a feminine given name, either taken from an epithet of the Greek moon goddess Artemis, or else representing a short form of '' Adelia'', '' Bedelia'', ''Cordelia'' or '' Odelia''. Meanings and origins According to records for the 1901 ...

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 (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

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''. Zoo ...

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, Tanzani ...

s were re-introduced to the park. Since 2005, the protected area is considered a

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

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