Quiçama National Park, also known as Kissama National Park ( Portuguese: Parque Nacional do Quiçama or Parque Nacional da Quissama), is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in northwestern

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. It is the only functioning national park in all of Angola, with the others being in disrepair due to the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

. The park is approximately 70 km from

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

, the Angolan capital. The park covers 3 million acres (12,000 km²), more than twice the size of the U.S. state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. The Portuguese name ''Quiçama'' is spelled in English and other languages as ''Kissama, Kisama'' or ''Quicama''. The spelling ''Kissama'' in English is the closest to the Portuguese

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...

Geography

The park is bordered on the west by 120 km of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

's coast. The Cuanza River forms the northern boundary, while the Longa River constitutes the southern border.

History

What is now Quiçama National Park was formed as a game reserve in 1938. In January 1957, it was proclaimed a national park by the Portuguese administration of the Overseas Province of Angola. The park once was home to an abundance of large game animals such as

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

s and Giant Sable, but after wide-scale poaching during 25 years of

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the animal population was virtually eliminated. In 2001, the Kissama Foundation, a group of Angolans and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

ns, initiated 'Operation Noah's Ark' to transport animals, especially elephants, from neighboring

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and South Africa. These animals, who were from overpopulated parks in their home countries, adapted well to the move. Noah's Ark was the largest animal transplant of its kind in history and has given the park momentum to be restored to its natural state. Since 2005, the protected area and surroundings is considered a

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

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

References

External links

*
The Didion Group, US Kissama Reps

Safari Tour Operators specialising on Kissama trips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quicama National Park National parks of Angola Protected areas established in 1957 1957 establishments in Africa Icolo e Bengo Province Quiçama