Kasanka National Park

Lore & Background

Kasanka National Park lies within the Greater Bangweulu Ecosystem, though there is no direct hydrological connection to the Bangweulu Wetlands. The park has a relatively flat topography with few relief features, except for the Mambilima Falls and the rocky Mpululwe and Bwalya Bemba hills. Nine permanent lakes and five perennial rivers—the Luwombwa, Mulembo, Kasanka, Mulaushi, and Musola—dissect the park, with the Luwombwa being the only river that drains the park, flowing out in the northwestern corner as a tributary of the Luapula River, a major source of the Congo River.

Reader's Guide

Kasanka National Park is significant for its role in conservation through a pioneering private-public partnership, the first of its kind among Zambia's national parks. The park's habitats include Brachystegia (Miombo) woodland covering about 70% of its area, evergreen forests (Mushitu swamp forest, riverine forests, and rare Mateshe dry evergreen forest), Chipya (Lake Basin Woodland), dambos, papyrus swamps, and grassy floodplains. The park has successfully reintroduced species such as zebra and buffalo, and its anti-poaching efforts have allowed populations of elephant, puku, sitatunga, and other mammals to recover. The annual arrival of eight to ten million straw-coloured fruit bats from October to December constitutes the greatest known mammal migration and the highest density of mammalian biomass on the planet. Over 471 bird species have been identified, and the park hosts a variety of predators including leopard, side-striped jackal, and numerous raptors attracted by the bat roost. An airfield (ICAO: FLKA) lies within the park.

Did You Know?

• Kasanka was the first of Zambia's national parks to be managed by a private-public partnership.
• The park hosts one of the world's largest mammal migrations, with close to ten million straw-coloured fruit bats roosting from October to December.
• The Luwombwa River is the only river that drains the park, flowing into the Luapula River, a major tributary of the Congo River.
• A total of 114 mammal species and over 471 bird species have been recorded in the park.

A Pioneering Model of Park Stewardship

Kasanka National Park holds a distinctive place in Zambian conservation history as the first national park in the country to be operated through a private-public partnership. The Kasanka Trust Ltd, a privately funded entity that has been active since 1986, shoulders all day-to-day management responsibilities while working alongside the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, formerly known as ZAWA. This collaborative arrangement has allowed the relatively compact park—roughly 390 square kilometres in the Chitambo District of Central Province—to benefit from dedicated, long-term investment in its ecosystems. The trust's sustained presence has been instrumental in rebuilding game populations that had been severely depleted in earlier decades, and it has overseen successful reintroduction programmes, most notably for zebra and buffalo. The park's modest size, making it one of Zambia's smaller national parks, actually lends itself well to intensive, hands-on management, with a permanent anti-poaching presence now keeping pressure on wildlife at bay. This model of shared stewardship has become a reference point for how smaller parks across the region might be sustained.

The World's Greatest Mammal Gathering

Every year between October and December, an estimated ten million straw-coloured fruit bats descend upon the Mushitu swamp forest within Kasanka National Park, creating what is widely regarded as the largest mammal migration on Earth. The bats concentrate in the largest remaining tract of intact Mushitu, located in the Fibwe area, where towering red mahoganies, waterberries, and quinine trees provide the canopy and fruit resources that draw them in. For roughly three months, the sky above this evergreen forest darkens with the movement of millions of wings, and the ground beneath becomes a carpet of roosting animals. The spectacle is not merely a tourism draw; it represents a critical ecological event, as the bats play a vital role in seed dispersal across the park's woodland and grassland mosaics. The concentration of so many individuals in one place also makes the site a magnet for researchers studying collective animal behaviour. No other location on the planet hosts a comparable seasonal assembly of a single mammal species, which is why the Mushitu roost is often called the largest fruit bat gathering on the planet.

A Mosaic of Water and Woodland

Kasanka's landscape is defined by its intimate relationship with water. Nine permanent lakes and more than one hundred kilometres of rivers thread through the park, with the Luwombwa serving as the sole drainage outlet, exiting through the northwestern corner. The Luwombwa feeds into the Luapula, which in turn drains the Bangweulu Swamp and constitutes the principal source of the Congo River. Yet despite Kasanka's membership in the Greater Bangweulu Ecosystem, there is no direct hydrological link between the park and the Bangweulu Wetlands themselves. Vegetation responds to this water-rich setting in layered ways: Miombo woodland, rich in tree species and forming a half-closed canopy, blankets roughly seventy percent of the surface. Papyrus swamps, often called the park's crown jewels, shelter the elusive sitatunga. Grassy dambos provide critical dry-season forage, while fire-prone Chipya woodlands—named for the local word meaning "burnt"—dot the landscape. The relatively flat terrain is punctuated only by the Mambilima Falls and the rocky Mpululwe and Bwalya Bemba hills.

A Recovering Menagerie

With 114 recorded mammal species and over 471 bird species, Kasanka punches well above its modest size in terms of biodiversity. The park is perhaps the single best location on Earth for observing the shy sitatunga, of which an estimated 500 to 1,000 individuals inhabit the papyrus swamps. Rare blue monkeys also offer excellent viewing opportunities here. Puku antelope are the most abundant, grazing across the floodplains and dambos, while hippopotamus can be seen in rivers and lakes including Lake Wasa, directly opposite the main lodge. Common duiker, bushbuck, warthog, vervet monkeys, and Kinda baboons are widespread throughout the park. Elephant populations are recovering, with several breeding herds and bachelor groups now moving through the landscape. The Kasanka Trust has also led reintroduction efforts, with zebra and buffalo proving the most successful additions. A permanent anti-poaching presence has been key to this recovery, reversing the severe depletion that plagued the park in earlier decades. An airfield carrying the ICAO code FLKA provides access for visitors and researchers alike.