Garamba National Park (French: Parc national de la Garamba) is a national park in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It covers nearly 5,200 km (2,000 sq mi). The park is one of Africa's oldest and was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. This is because it protects important homes for northern white rhinoceroses, African elephants, hippopotamuses, and giraffes. Since 2005, Garamba National Park has been managed by African Parks in partnership with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature.

Overview

Garamba National Park was created in 1938 and covers an area of 4,900 km² (1,900 sq mi) in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The park is surrounded by the Gangala-na-Bodio Hunting Reserve on the west, south, and east, and shares borders with South Sudan on the north and northeast. It is part of the Sudano–Guinean savanna zone. Garamba is one of Africa's oldest protected areas. It is located in a transition area between two regions known for unique species: the Guinea-Congolian and Guinean-Sudanese savanna. These two biogeographic zones support many types of wildlife, which have seen population decreases in recent years due to poaching. Rangers from the ICCN, supported by soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, work to protect Garamba from poachers and rebel groups.

History

The national park was created in 1938.

In 1980, the park was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. From 1984 to 1992, it was listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list. Between 1991 and 1993, about 50,000 Sudanese refugees moved to areas near Garamba after being forced to leave by the Sudan People's Liberation Army. This led to more illegal hunting in the park. Between 1993 and 1995, there were about 121 conflicts between poachers and park rangers. During 1991–1996, rangers found more than 900 weapons. In 1994, the International Rhino Foundation helped pay for patrol vehicles. In 1995, the same group helped fund ranger salaries. In February 1996, two rhinos—one male named Bawesi and a pregnant female named Juliet—were killed. Because of illegal hunting of northern white rhinoceroses, Garamba was again added to the danger list in 1996.

After losing battles during the First Congo War and Second Sudanese Civil War, including Operation Thunderbolt, Ugandan rebels from the WNBF and UNRF (II) took shelter in Garamba National Park in 1997. Organizations such as the Frankfurt Zoological Society, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and World Wildlife Fund have worked with local leaders to help restore the park.

African Parks’ efforts to stop poaching have reportedly reduced animal deaths. According to the BBC, the park’s management has been supported by the European Union and private donors. Other supporters include the United States Agency for International Development, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildcat Foundation, and World Bank, as noted by African Parks.

Since 2005, the protected area has been part of a Lion Conservation Unit along with Domaine Chasse Bili Uere.

In the past decade, as of 2017, poachers have killed at least 21 park rangers. Security issues have made it difficult for Garamba to become a popular tourist spot. Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army used the park as a safe place. In 2009, the group attacked Garamba’s Nagero station, killing at least eight people, including two rangers, and injuring thirteen others. Rebels also stole supplies and damaged park buildings. In 2015, poachers killed five rangers and three members of the Congolese military during three conflicts. More rangers were killed in October 2015. In April 2016, poachers shot three rangers and injured others, including the park’s manager at the time. In April 2017, elephant poachers killed two rangers. According to photojournalist Kate Brooks, who made a documentary called The Last Animals, thirteen rangers and military members were killed defending Garamba between January 2015 and April 2017.

In 2017, National Geographic Documentary Films released The Protectors: Walk in the Rangers’ Shoes, a virtual reality documentary by Kathryn Bigelow about the rangers’ work to protect wildlife. At the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017, the Disruptor Award was given posthumously to rangers who died while protecting Garamba “for their work and bravery in defending elephants.”

Flora and fauna

The park's savannah grasslands have few acacia trees. Some of the grasses in Garamba can grow as tall as 3 meters (10 feet).

Garamba is home to 138 recorded mammal species, including various antelope, African buffalo, African bush elephant, hyenas, giant forest hog, giraffes, hippopotamus, and lion. The park is the only place in the country where the Kordofan subspecies of giraffes lives, and it has one of the country's largest remaining elephant populations.

The elephants in Garamba are a mix of the African bush and African forest subspecies. Poaching has caused the park's elephant numbers to drop in recent years. In 2011, there were about 2,800 elephants. By 2017, the number had fallen to fewer than 2,000, a large decrease from the approximately 20,000 elephants reported in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2012, 22 elephants were killed, and in 2014, poachers killed 68 elephants in two months. Elephant poaching decreased from 98 in 2015 to three in 2022 due to improved law enforcement.

Giraffe numbers in the park have generally declined since the 1990s. The population reached 300 in 1976, and more than 100 were recorded in 2008. In 1993, there were 356 giraffes, but by 2007, only 86 remained. In 2003, 86 giraffes were reported, and by 2016, only 38 were left. As of 2022, 71 giraffes lived in the park, and in 2024, more than 80 Kordofan giraffes were reported. Poaching is the biggest threat to the giraffe population.

The park once had the last wild population of the northern white rhinoceros. In the mid-1980s, about 15 northern white rhinos were in Garamba, which led to the park being added to UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger. Between 2003 and 2004, there were between 20 and 25 rhinos in the park. In 2023, 16 northern white rhinos were moved from a private reserve in South Africa to Garamba as part of restoration efforts.

About 286 bird species, including the secretarybird, have been recorded in the park. It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports large numbers of many bird species.

People and wild animals in and around the park sometimes conflict. Local and South Sudanese poachers hunt elephants, often for ivory. The park's wildlife is also affected by groups like the Huda and Wodaabe (or "Mbororo") who search for grazing land.