Amboseli National Park, formerly known as the Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is located in Kenya’s Kajiado South Constituency. Covering 39,206 hectares (392 km² or 151 sq mi), it lies at the heart of a vast 8,000 km² (3,100 sq mi) ecosystem that stretches across the Kenya–Tanzania border.
While the area is traditionally home to the Maasai people, many others from across Kenya have settled here, drawn by the thriving tourism industry and productive agriculture along the swamp systems. Despite receiving just 350 mm (14 inches) of rainfall annually, Amboseli offers some of the world’s best wildlife viewing. The park is home to over 400 bird species, including water birds like pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, and hamerkops, as well as 47 species of raptors.
Amboseli protects two of the ecosystem’s five major swamps and also features the dry bed of an ancient Pleistocene lake surrounded by semi-arid vegetation.
Situated approximately 240 km (150 miles) southeast of Nairobi, Amboseli is Kenya’s second most popular national park, after the famed Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Image reference: Ecolife Zone (https://ecolife.zone/ethical-animal-tourism)
