Amboseli National Park

Amboseli National Park
Location of Amboseli National Park
Location of Amboseli National Park within Kenya
LocationLoitoktok District, Kajiado County, Kenya
Nearest cityNairobi
Coordinates02°38′29″S 37°14′53″E / 2.64139°S 37.24806°E / -2.64139; 37.24806
Area392 km2 (151 sq mi)
Established
  • 1906 (1906); as a reserve
  • 1974 (1974); as a national park
Visitors120,000 estimated (in 2006)
Governing bodyKenya Wildlife Service, Olkejuado County Council and the Maasai community

Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Loitoktok District in Kajiado County, Kenya. It is 39,206 ha (392.06 km2) in size at the core of an 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. It harbours 400 species of birds including water birds like pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hamerkop and 47 raptor species. The local people are mainly Maasai.

The park protects two of the five main swamps and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semiarid vegetation.

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