Quiçama National Park

Quiçama National Park

Infobox_protected_area | name = Kisama National Park
iucn_category = II


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location = Northwestern Angola
nearest_city = Luanda
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area = 9,960 km²
established = 1957
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Quiçama National Park, also known as Kissama National Park (Portuguese: Parque Nacional do Quiçama or Parque Nacional da Quissama), is a national park in northwestern Angola.

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

The park is approximately 70 km from Luanda, 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.

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.

History

What is now Quiçama National Park was formed as a game reserve in 1938. It was proclaimed a national park in January 1957.

The park once was home to an abundance of large game animals such as elephants and Giant Sable, but after wide-scale poaching during 25 years of civil war, the animal population was virtually eliminated.

In 2001, the Kissama Foundation, a group of Angolans and South Africans, initiated Operation Noah's Ark to transport animals, especially elephants, from neighboring Botswana 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.

Attributes of the park

The park is bordered on the west by 120 km of the Atlantic Ocean's coast. The Cuanza River forms the northern boundary, while the Longa River constitutes the southern border.

External links

* [http://www.kissama.org/ Kissama Foundation]
* [http://www.didiongroup.com/ The Didion Group, US Kissama Reps]
* [http://fotoangola.weblog.com.pt/arquivo/2005/04/parque_nacional.html Angola em Fotos]
* [http://fotoangola.weblog.com.pt/arquivo/2005/06/index.html Angola em Fotos]
* [http://www.cpires.com/angola_parques.html Parques Naturais e Zonas Protegidas de Angola]


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