AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

formerly Masai Amboseli Game Reserve, national park, southern Kenya, East Africa. Amboseli was originally established as a game reserve in 1948 and covered 1,259 sq mi (3,261 sq km), northwest of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Within it were distinguished seven habitats: open plains, acacia woodland, lava-strewn thorn-bush country, swamp, marshland, the Amboseli lake bed, and the slopes of Oldoinyo Orok. The reserve was also occupied by the Masai and their herds. In 1974 a little more than 10 percent of the Reserve was established as the Amboseli National Park, with an area of 151 sq mi (392 sq km). Centred on Lake Amboseli, normally dry with a flat basin of alkaline soils, the park encompasses three of the original seven habitats: open plains, thorn-bush country, and acacia woodland. A great variety of wildlife inhabits the park. Important fauna include the baboon, lion, cheetah, elephant, black rhinoceros, hippopotamus, Masai giraffe, buffalo, oryx, wildebeest, gerenuk, impala, and gazelle.