page_title: Kasanka National Park
section_title: Habitats
hierarchical_section_title: Kasanka National Park / Habitats
caption_attribution_description: Termite mounds in Kasanka National Park, Zambia, in the dry season
context_page_description: Kasanka National Park is a park located in the Serenje District of Zambia’s Central Province. At roughly 390 km², Kasanka is one of Zambia’s smallest national parks. Kasanka was the first of Zambia’s national parks to be managed by a private-public partnership. The privately funded Kasanka Trust Ltd has been in operation since 1986 and undertakes all management responsibilities, in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife. The park has an average elevation between 1,160 m and 1,290 m above mean sea level. It has a number permanent shallow lakes and water bodies with the largest being Wasa. There are five perennial rivers in the park, with the largest being the Luwombwa River. The Luwombwa is the only river that drains the NP, which flows out in the northwestern corner. It is a tributary of the Luapula, which further upstream also drains the Bangweulu Swamp and forms the main source of the Congo River. Although Kasanka NP is part of the Greater Bangweulu Ecosystem, there is no direct hydrological connection between the park and the Bangweulu Wetlands.
  A total of 114 mammal species have been recorded in the park including elephant, hippopotamus and sitatunga.
context_section_description: There are a variety of habitats in the park. Brachystegia woodland, otherwise known as Miombo Woodland, covers around 70% of Kasanka’s surface area, interspersed with grassy dambos. It is very rich in tree species and in many places forms a half closed canopy but also supports a well-developed herbaceous stratum. A high frequency of fires removes this stratum and young saplings and leads to Miombo Woodland with large, widely separated trees. Decades of “early burning” in the park have resulted in more natural Miombo with a strong presence of young trees and thicket species.
  Evergreen forests of three kinds occur within Kasanka; Mushitu or swamp forest, riverine forests and very small patches of Mateshe (dry evergreen forest). The Mushitu is characterised by huge red mahoganies, waterberries and quinine trees among others and is fairly well represented. The largest tract of intact Mushitu, in the Fibwe area, hosts the annual gathering of straw-coloured fruit bats from October to December making it the largest fruit bat roost on Earth. Riverine forests are found along most rivers in Kasanka, with the largest stretches being found along the Luwombwa. True Mateshe probably was common in historic times but is rare now, as a result of centuries of frequent fires. All forest types are at risk from frequent wildfires as the tree species they support are not resistant to fire.
  Chipya, also known as Lake Basin Woodland has interspersed trees and do not form a closed canopy. This allows sunlight that aids tall grasses to grow. Chipya is prone to very hot fires in the dry season, and this gives these woodlands their name as ‘chiya’ means ‘burnt’ in the local language. Chipya typically occurs on relatively soils and are thought to be a fire derivate form of Mateshe.
  Dambos are grassy drainage channels and basins with little to no woody vegetation but very palatable grasses. Most woody species grow on exposed termitaria as dambos tend to retain water very well. Dambos are of a vital importance to grazing mammal species as well as several woodland mammals that choose to graze on the fringes, especially during the dry season. Several large (several square km) grassy plains occur within the park such as Chinyangali close to Fibwe and the Chikufwe plain east of the Luwombwa River.
  Papyrus swamps are considered the crown jewels of Kasanka with vast marshes supporting large tracts of thick papyrus swamp and home to the elusive sitatunga.
  Kasanka has nine permanent lakes and over 100 km (62 mi) of rivers flowing through the park. Many of the rivers, especially the Luwombwa in the west support riparian fringe forests on their banks. Large areas of grassy floodplains are found along the Kasanka, Mulembo and Luwombwa rivers. The rivers and lakes are host to a variety of fish and are rich in other forms of aquatic and semi-aquatic wildlife.
caption: Termite mounds in the park
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