Congo (Democratic Republic)

Garamba National Park

WHS Score 0.0 Votes 0

Garamba National Park comprises an area of savannah, marshland and forests that is the habitat of the world’s four largest land mammals.

The vegetation is especially suited for great herbivores such as elephants (both forest elephants and bush elephants), giraffes, hippopotamus and rhinoceros. The park aimed to protect the last known wild population of northern white rhinoceros. By 2016 it had lost all of its northern white rhinos (the species has become extinct in the wild), 95% of its elephants, most of its Kordofan giraffe and an estimated 80-90% of other large mammals

Community Perspective: Barbara reports on fieldwork she did at Garamba in the 1990s.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Garamba National Park (ID: 136)
Country
Congo (Democratic Republic)
Status
Inscribed 1980 Site history
History of Garamba National Park
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • vii
  • x
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • April 27, 2016 express.co.uk — Three park rangers killed after shootout with elephant poachers
  • Jan. 20, 2016 us.blastingnews.com — Extinction looms for rare Congolese giraffes in Garamba NP
  • Oct. 11, 2015 abcnews.go.com — Poachers Kill 4 in Anti-Poaching Patrol in Garamba
  • Oct. 3, 2012 africajournalismtheworld.com — Chinese affluence fuels ivory poaching at Garamba
  • April 25, 2012 ibtimes.co.uk — Garamba NP: 22 Elephants Massacred in Helicopter Attack
  • Jan. 8, 2009 whc.unesco.org — Garamba National Park attacked by rebels, leaving 8 dead and 13 wounded

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Wildlife habitat: Fauna
Travel Information
One thousand visitors or fewer
One thousand visitors or fewer
DD : “In 2017, a new tourist lodge was completed …
Recent Connections
View all (26) .
Connections of Garamba National Park
Geography
Ecology
  • Otters
    two species of otter
  • Elephants
    African elephant ("representing an intermediary form between the forest and savannah subspecies")
  • Strepsirrhini
    dwarf bushbaby, potto
  • Rhino habitat
    Northern white rhinoceros
  • Chimpanzee habitat
  • High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area
    Congo Basin
  • Inselbergs
    “plateau … broken by inselbergs” AB ev
  • Bovines
    A very large population of African buffalo also display intermediary forms between the forest buffalo ... and the savannah buffalo. (OUV)
  • Swamps and Marshes
    "Covering vast grass savannas and woodlands interspersed with gallery forests and marshland depressions," (OUV)
  • Lions
    Crit X: In addition to the rhinoceros and the giraffe, the purely savannicole species include the lion
  • Hippos
    "Garamba National Park contains the four largest land mammals in the world, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the giraffe and the hippopotamus." (OUV)
Damaged
World Heritage Process
Human Activity
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
Visiting conditions
  • One thousand visitors or fewer
    DD : “In 2017, a new tourist lodge was completed and efforts to promote tourism are ongoing. Occasional international groups do visit the park but the current climate of insecurity is a major constraint. However an important local market (>1000 expatriates working for a nearby industrial gold mining complex) is being tapped”
  • Red Zone Travel Advisory
    DRC fully off-limits
WHS Names
News
express.co.uk 04/27/2016
Three park rangers killed after sh…
us.blastingnews.com 01/20/2016
Extinction looms for rare Congoles…
abcnews.go.com 10/11/2015
Poachers Kill 4 in Anti-Poaching P…
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 03/12/05.

Anonymous

Garamba National Park

Garamba National Park (Inscribed)

Photo in the Public Domain

I did the field work portion of my Master's degree at Garamba in 1993 and 1995. Then, in December 1995, my husband and I got married at the Hippo Pool on the Dungu River right outside the park. We have wonderful memories from Garamba, and I understand now that the wildlife there is in grave danger and poaching has become rampant and constant. There were still lots of animals left when we were there, around 11,000 elephants and 35 rhinoceros. Now the number of elephants is down to around one thousand. Very sad, but the reality of a political system like the Congo's.

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