THE RED TSAVO ELEPHANTS

Tsavo Elephant Population


The elephant population within the Tsavo Ecosystem is the largest and thus most important in Kenya. Tsavo is home to approximately 11,600 elephants (2008), about one-third of all the elephants in Kenya.
Tsavo Ecosystem
The Tsavo Ecosystem (40,000 km²) is located in the south-eastern region of Kenya. This vast area is comprised of the protected areas of Tsavo East National Park (13,747 km²), Tsavo West National Park (6,586 km²), Chyulu National Park and Mkomozi National Park in Tanzania. The remaining area is comprised of national reserve, wildlife sanctuaries, livestock ranches, settlements, agriculture, mining and towns.
The Tsavo National Park was established on 1st April, 1948 and is located about 200km south east of Nairobi and is the closest large National Park to Mombasa and makes the ideal safari location if you are staying on the coast anywhere around Mombasa, Bamburi beach or Malindi.
Split in half by the Nairobi to Mombasa road, the Tsavo National park in Kenya has an area of 8035 square miles, which means that it covers an area larger than Wales and is much bigger than the more famous Masai Mara National Park. To the east of the main Nairobi-Mombasa road lies Tsavo East and on the western side... you guest it: Tsavo West.

The two parks are very different and generally Tsavo West has a more varied topography and a more diverse array of habitats than Tsavo East. Tsavo West consists mainly of semi-arid plains, granite outcrops and ancient lava fields. The highest and most impressive is the Ngulia Mountain, which stands at almost 6000ft high. It is far more visited that Tsavo East, to which much is closed to the general puplic although there is still such a vast amount to see this should not put you off from visiting it. Tsavo East does not have the mountains and hills of Tsavo West and the park cosists mostly of dry, flat thorn-bush scrub, which is occasionally broken by the green vegetation of the Galana river and other smaller seasonal rivers that run through the National Park.
For most of the year Tsavo is dry and dusty and is where the term the Red Elephants of Tsavo comes from, but after the rains the National park is transformed almost over night, with new grasses, and a fantastic array of wild flowers, like the pink and white convolvulus (morning glory's).


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