by Leigh Kemp, 23 July 2008

Elephants scatter from a pool in the dry riverbed as the plane banks over them to line up for the airstrip. We flash past a giraffe that barely moves its head and a small herd of impala trot off a little way as the plane touches down in Ruaha National Park..

It was almost ten years ago to the day that I had fielded a call offering a management position in Ruaha National Park in Tanzania. It was with great excitement that my fiance' and I discussed the position: a remote reserve in a little-known area of Africa flamed our excitement.

The return call to confirm the appointment indicated the starting date as August; our wedding was in October. And that was the end of the dream ..... until the day we landed in Ruaha ..

Park of the future

After spending time in Ruaha in the 1970's the renowned ornithologist, John Williams, said of the park: "Of all the faunal preserves it is the park of the future”.

It was a future that remained untouched by development - but tainted by rampant poaching - until the 21st century when Tanzania began to develop its tourism potential.

With iconic destinations such as Serengeti and Ngorongoro in the northern parts of the country, the southern parks of Tanzania remained free of any major developments. Recently, however, the country is seeing the benefits of tourism and, with many African safari travellers looking for new destinations to visit, Ruaha is beginning to fulfill its predicted role as the park of the future.

But what is it about Ruaha National Park that makes it different to others?

Where east meets south

Where does east meet south? In tourism terms the answer to this question is relatively easy - and many tourism bodies have their own ideas. Generally though east Africa includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda and southern Africa includes the countries south of this.

In ecological terms however the answer has to be more defined due to physical attributes that need to be applied such as vegetation types and wildlife distribution. In recent years it's been agreed by environmentalists that Ruaha National Park is the crossover region between east and southern Africa.

It is in Ruaha that the east African Savannah biome meets the southern African miombo woodland and where species such as Grant's gazelle and lesser kudu reach their southern-most distribution.

With this east/south combination, the herbivore numbers are high, making Ruaha a haven for predators. There are healthy populations of African wild dog, spotted and striped hyena and lions.

In search of the Ruaha red-billed hornbill

The parks of southern Tanzania haven't been as studied as other parts of Africa and for this reason new discoveries are been made regularly. The one discovery, which perhaps epitomizes this phenomenon, and was of special interest to me was the red-billed hornbill of the region.

As with many of the parks in southern Tanzania, there isn't much information about the fauna and flora of the region. Recent studies of birds in Ruaha have revealed not only new species to the region, but never before recorded species.

The red-billed hornbill is one of the most common birds throughout its range in Africa - instantly recognizable - and so it was in Ruaha, until a researcher saw something different. Upon closer inspection - and with DNA evidence - the Ruaha red-billed hornbill, or Tanzania red-billed hornbill, was discovered to be a separate species.

Our attempts at getting up-close for a good look and photo of the hornbill were the subject of much debate in the vehicle during our first afternoon drive. Nevertheless, after many failed attempts we finally succeeded - much to the relief of everyone in the vehicle.

There are numerous species in Ruaha that are now under investigation to determine whether they are separate species to those living in other parts of Africa, and it's believed that in time a number of new species will be identified.

Ruaha into the future

Ruaha may be remote but, similar to other parks scattered throughout Africa, it has also suffered from its fair share of environmental problems - with poaching and unregulated agricultural development being the key issues.

Poaching was rife in the 1970s and 1980s with elephant and rhino suffering the most. The rhino population was poached to the brink of extinction - and the elephant population was drastically reduced. The elephant numbers have steadily increased since the poaching onslaught but rhino numbers remain dangerously low.

The Great Ruaha River, the lifeblood of the park, has recently started drying up during Tanzania's dry seasons. The lengths of the periods of no water flow have been steadily increasing and now a four-month dry period is the norm. This drying up is mostly due to the expanding rice cultivation schemes in the water catchment areas.

Despite these environmental issues, Ruaha is finally claiming its place among African safari destinations and with further sensitive development it'll open itself up to more visitors who will wonder at its raw wilderness.

Article © Copyright 2008 Go2Africa.

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