YANKARI NATIONAL PARK

park in Bauchi state, east-central Nigeria, southeast of Bauchi town. It was established as a game reserve in 1956 and became a national park in 1991. It covers 870 square miles (2,254 square km). The park, at an elevation of about 1,600 feet (500 m), has characteristic savanna vegetation, including swamps in river floodplains, grasslands, and thick bush. Yankari is rich in animal life, with antelopes (roan, waterbuck, bushbuck, and hartebeest), elephants, hippopotamuses, giraffes, baboons, hyenas, lions, leopards, and crocodiles. Special features of the park include ancient sandstone cisterns, carved by former inhabitants for water storage, and the Wikki Warm Springs.