Chobe National Park is Botswana's first national park. It has many different kinds of plants and animals. It is located in the northern part of Botswana. It is the third largest park in Botswana, following the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Gemsbok National Park.

The park is known for having a group of lions that hunt elephants. These lions often target young elephants, such as calves and juveniles, but may also hunt older young elephants called subadults.

History

The first people who lived in this area were the San bushmen, also called the Basarwa in Botswana. They moved from place to place to find food, such as fruit, water, and wild animals. Today, San paintings can still be seen inside rocky hills in the park.

At the start of the 20th century, the area that became Botswana had different systems for how land was owned. A large part of the park was considered crown land at that time. In 1931, someone first suggested creating a national park to protect wildlife and encourage tourism. The next year, 24,000 km (9,300 sq mi) around the Chobe district was made a non-hunting area. This area grew to 31,600 km (12,200 sq mi) two years later.

In 1943, a large number of tsetse flies in the region slowed the park’s creation. By 1953, the government again supported the idea, proposing 21,000 km (8,100 sq mi) as a game reserve. The Chobe Game Reserve was officially created in 1960, but it was smaller than planned. In 1968, the reserve became a national park.

At that time, there were industrial areas in the region, especially at Serondela, where timber was harvested. These areas were later moved out of the park. By 1975, the entire protected area was free from human activity. Today, signs of the old timber industry remain at Serondela. The park was slightly expanded in 1980 and 1987.

Geography and ecosystems

The park is divided into up to four areas, each representing a different ecosystem:

• The Serondela area (also called the Chobe riverfront) is located in the far northeast of the park. It has lush floodplains and dense woodlands made of hardwood trees such as Afzelia quanzensis and Baikiaea plurijuga, which have been reduced due to heavy elephant activity. The Chobe River flows along the northeastern border of the park and is a key water source, especially during the dry season (May to October), attracting large herds of African bush elephants, Angolan giraffes, sable antelope, and African buffalo. The floodplains are the only place in Botswana where puku antelope can be found. Southern carmine bee-eaters are often seen during certain seasons. When the area floods, African spoonbills, ibis, storks, ducks, and other waterfowl gather there. This section is the most visited part of the park, partly because it is near Victoria Falls, Zambia. The town of Kasane, located just downstream, is the main town in the region and serves as the northern entrance to the park.

• The Savuti Marsh area covers 10,878 square kilometers (4,200 square miles) and is located in the western part of the park, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Mababe Gate. The Savuti Marsh was once a large inland lake, but its water supply was cut off long ago due to tectonic activity. Today, the marsh is fed by the Savuti Channel, which dries up for long periods and then flows again unpredictably. The channel currently flows again, and in January 2010, it reached the Savuti Marsh for the first time since 1982. This irregular water flow has caused many dead trees along the channel’s banks. The area includes extensive savannahs and rolling grasslands, making wildlife activity highly dynamic. During dry seasons, animals such as black and white rhinoceros, warthog, greater kudu, impala, Burchell’s zebra, blue wildebeest, and elephants are seen. During rainy seasons, the area is home to 450 bird species. Lions, hyenas, zebras, and occasionally Southeast African cheetahs are also spotted. This region is famous for its annual zebra migration and predator activity.

• The Linyanti Marsh is located in the northwest corner of the park, north of Savuti. It is near the Linyanti River. To the west lies Selinda Reserve, and on the northern bank of the Kwando River is Namibia’s Nkasa Rupara National Park. The area includes riverine woodlands, open woodlands, lagoons, and floodplains. Large groups of lions, African leopards, African wild dogs, roan antelope, sable antelope, a hippopotamus group, and herds of African bush elephants live here. Rare animals such as red lechwe, sitatunga, and a group of Nile crocodiles are also found in the region. The area has a rich variety of bird species.

• Between the Linyanti Marsh and Savuti Marsh lies a hot and dry area covered mainly by Nogatsaa grass woodland. This section is less known and is a good place to spot common eland.

• African wild dog
• Greater kudu
• African darter
• Burchell’s zebras and impalas
• African buffalo
• African elephant
• Two giraffes
• A male lion
• Lilac-breasted roller

Elephant concentration

The park is famous for having a large group of elephants, with about 50,000 living there. These elephants are called Kalahari elephants, and they form the largest herds of any elephant population. They have ivory that is easily broken and short tusks, which may be caused by low calcium levels in the soil. The large number of elephants has caused damage in some areas. Because the number of elephants is very high in Chobe, park officials have thought about reducing their numbers, but this idea has not been accepted due to controversy. During the dry season, the elephants stay near the Chobe River and Linyanti River. In the rainy season, they travel 200 kilometers to the southeastern part of the park. Their area of movement includes parts of the park and extends into northwestern Zimbabwe.

Roads

Road conditions in Chobe National Park are affected a lot by the season and rainfall. A 4×4 vehicle is needed to travel in the park. Thick sand makes driving difficult along the Chobe River Front during dry months, especially when temperatures are high. In the wet season, roads near the river become muddy.

Savuti roads, including the western Sandridge Road near Mababe Gate and roads north and south of the Savuti channel, are mostly covered in thick sand and hard to drive on. After rain, driving on marsh roads is risky because wet black cotton soil becomes too soft to travel safely.

Nogatsaa roads are flooded during the wet season, and few roads can be driven at this time. In dry months, game drives between pans use roads with small areas of thick sand. After leaving the paved road near Kasane, drivers must travel through thick sand for the first 20 km (12 mi) before reaching a sand road.