The Limpopo National Park was born when the status of Coutada 16 Wildlife Utilisation Area in Gaza Province, Mozambique, was changed from a hunting concession to a protected area. It forms part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with the Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.

Geography

Administratively, the park is split between Chicualacuala District (6400 km2), Massingir District (2100 km2), and Mabalane District (1500 km2). The park is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a 35,000 km2 peace park that links this park, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, as well as the area between Kruger and Gonarezhou, the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Makuleke region in South Africa.

Wildlife

This park is home to mammalian species including elephant, lion, Cape wild dog, leopard, rhinoceros, blue wildebeest, spotted hyena, Cape buffalo, mongoose, kudu, giraffe, zebra, oribi, and hippopotamus.

History

With the help of R42 million donated by Germany the new park is being developed with fencing and anti-poaching units. The park is divided up into three separate zones of use: a tourist zone, a wilderness zone, and a resource utilization zone (hunting). In the south is the Massingir Dam and the town of Massingir in Massingir District, which is the administrative headquarters of the new park, while on the northern border is the Limpopo River. In 2001 the translocation of a large number of animals from the Kruger National Park to new park had got underway. Work on the new Giriyondo Border Post between South Africa and Mozambique has started in March 2004.