The Marsabit National Park and Nature Reserve is a national park and nature reserve in northern Kenya, near the town of Marsabit, located at the base of Mount Marsabit. It is located 560 kilometers north of Nairobi in Marsabit County, in what was then known as the Eastern Province. It is known for its zebra population as well as its bird sanctuary.
Several extinct volcanic craters may be found in the area, surrounded by dense vegetation. Gof Redo is a crater located around 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) north of Marsabit at the fork of the roads leading to Moyale and North Horr. It is a popular tourist destination.
The park has various animals, including zebras, elephants, lions, giraffes, buffaloes, black and white colobus monkeys, bushbucks, sunis, and leopards. There are approximately 350 kinds of birds in the park, with 52 of them being raptors. It is home to various species, such as Ruppell’s griffon vultures and peregrine falcons, as well as mountain buzzards, black kites, and African fish-eagles, on the cliffs at the northern end of Lake Paradise in Gof Sokorte Gurda. Garganeys, southern pochards, and teals are among the ducks that may be seen on the lake, which is also home to other species such as Red-knobbed coots, hamerkops, ibises, purple herons, and yellow-billed storks. Olive baboons, vervet monkeys, Peter’s gazelles, beisa oryxes, striped hyenas, caracals, and aardwolves can be found on the lower slopes of the park’s forest which is marked by scrubland. There are also populations of olive baboons, vervet monkeys, Peter’s gazelles, striped hyenas, caracals, and aardwolves.
Michael Palin remembers passing spectacular Strangler figs in the mountain-top forest on the way south from Mount Marsabit to the stony plains of Shaba. This is in stark contrast to the dusty track below, flanked by low, flat-topped acacias.
The area is home to friendly weaver birds, distinguished by their neater, tidier nests; sparrow weavers, which their “scruffier” nests can characterize; and white-bellied turacos, which their white bellies may determine.
In the 1970s, the park gained notoriety for allegedly housing elephants with the world’s most enormous tusks. Today, the park is home to elephants with shorter tusks. One elephant, named Ahmed, was subjected to regular monitoring. When he died, it was discovered that its tusks weighed more than 300 kg.