Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Situated wholly on the west bank of the Luangwa river, the park lies upstream from South Luangwa National Park and is separated from it by a 30–40-km-wide corridor (Munyamadzi Game Management Area). Much of the area lies between 600–900 m and is dominated by mopane, although large areas of this woodland have been destroyed by elephants when poaching pressure has caused them to concentrate in safe areas. Away from the river, the park climbs towards the first ridges of the Muchinga Escarpment and, in places, reaches over 1,300 m. Here, the better-drained soils support miombo. There are smaller patches of munga and riparian forest, but little grassland. Compared to its sister park it is poorly known and access is restricted.
See Box and Table 3 for key species. The avifauna is very similar to that of South Luangwa (ZM019). The Zambezian biome endemics include
Neocichla gutturalis and several species typical of escarpment woodland such as
Nectarinia shelleyi and
Plocepasser rufoscapulatus.
Non-bird biodiversity: A wide variety of mammals occur, including Loxodonta africana (EN) and good numbers of the endemic subspecies Connochaetes taurinus cooksoni.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The area suffered considerably from poaching in the past, but is now actively protected and game numbers are increasing. Although some illegal hunting still occurs, it seems likely that the birds are not affected. Most of the park is uninhabited and, although currently not a problem, human encroachment perhaps needs to be assessed and monitored.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: North Luangwa National Park (Zambia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/north-luangwa-national-park-iba-zambia on 23/12/2024.
