Current view: Text account
Site description (2005 baseline):
Site location and context
Where the Lunsemfwa river descends the Muchinga escarpment it has curved a spectacular gorge into the sedimentary rock, several kilometres long.It is extremely steep,relatively narrow and about 300m deep. About halfway along its length it is joined from the north-east by the Mkushi river in an equally impressive gorge. Directly above the confluence is bell point, a viewpoint that has been awarded National Monument status due to its outstanding natural beuty. Bell Point was named after Miss Grace Bell, a freind of e. knowles jordan,who was probably the forst european to reah the area in about 1913. The gorge is sorrounded by rolling terrain covered with miombo, it is remote and sparserly populated.
Very little has been carried out, but there are atleast two records of Taita falcon and it seems likely that this localised species is a breeding resident. many birds that are typical of rocky habitats occur, such as Black eagle,Mocking Chat,Rock-loving Cisticola, striped pipit and red-winged Starling. The sorrounding miombo holds a good number of zambezian endemics and near endemics such as Pale-billed Hornbill, Miombo Rock Thrush, central Bearded scrub Robin, Arnot's Chat, Red-capped Crombec, rufous -bellied Tit and Sousa's Shrike.
Non-bird biodiversity: Not known.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Further field work is required to establish suitable boundary. ideally, this should remain a considerable distance from the gorge and thus aim to protect the surrounding miombo as well.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wonder Gorge (Zambia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wonder-gorge-iba-zambia on 23/12/2024.
