Matusadona National Park is a national park in northern Zimbabwe. It is located on the southern side of Lake Kariba. The park is named after the nearby Matuzviadonha Hills.
History
Matusadona was declared a non-hunting area on November 7, 1958. It later became a Game Reserve in 1963 and was established as a National Park in 1975 under the Parks & Wildlife Act of Rhodesia. Matusadona National Park covers 1,400 square kilometers (540 square miles) of flat plains and rugged mountains. It protects a wide variety of plants and animals. The area includes untouched and rough natural landscapes that were difficult to reach before the Kariba Dam was built and Lake Kariba was formed. The creation of the lake caused major changes in the environment. In particular, the grass growing along the lakeshore has increased the numbers of large mammals in the park, especially elephants and Cape buffalo. The grass species growing on the shoreline is called Panicum repens. This grass grows as long as the lake levels change, bringing nutrients to the shore. This food source has helped large grazing animals, such as Cape buffalo, waterbuck, common zebra, and impala, to grow in numbers. These animals attract predators that hunt them. Matusadona National Park is an Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) and is home to several rhinoceros that were moved there from other areas.
Ecology and management
Matusadona National Park has three different areas with unique environments. The first is Lake Kariba and the grasslands along its shore. The second area is the floor of the Zambezi Valley, which includes thick jesse, Combretum celastroides, and mopane woodland. The third area is the Escarpment, where Julbernardia and Brachystegia woodlands grow. These woodlands have little grass but support animals that eat plants, such as black rhinoceros. Elephants live throughout the park and rest under the shade of jesse trees during hot days.
From the Zambezi Valley floor, the Escarpment rises about 700 meters (2,300 feet) and is very rough. Over time, elephant activity and fires have reduced the size of the woodlands, allowing grasslands to grow. To protect the trees from severe fires, park managers decided to control the elephant population and start early burning programs on the upper Escarpment. These efforts have helped the woodlands regrow.
In an area covering 450 km (170 square miles), more than 100 lions once lived by hunting Cape buffalo. However, buffalo numbers dropped when Lake Kariba's rising water level took away their grazing areas. This caused lion numbers to fall. By 2004, a study found only 28 lions remained in the area. No research was available about the lions’ survival or other threats they faced. The lion population remains low and is vulnerable to environmental and human-related challenges. Other animals in the park include leopards, warthogs, greater kudu, and bushbuck.
In November 2019, African Parks began managing Matusadona National Park with the help of Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. This change happened because the park had suffered from widespread poaching.
Facilities
The following campsites are located in Matusadona National Park: Tashinga Camp, Sanyati Camp, and Changachirere Camp. There are also simple camps at Jenje and Kanjedza, which can each hold up to 10 people. In addition, there are special campsites called exclusive campsites at Ume, Muuyu, Mbalabala, Maronga, and Kautsiga.
Access
Tashinga Camp has a small landing strip that is 800 meters long (about 2,600 feet), which can be used by small planes. Many visitors reach the park by boat, which comes from Bumi Hills or Kariba town. The roads to the park are not very good, and the rough internal roads help keep the number of visitors and vehicles low. The roads are closed during the rainy season.