Etosha national park and ongava game reserve in Namibia

Covering 22,270 square kilometres or 8600 square miles, it takes its name from the Etosha pan which covers 23% of the park. The park is home to hundreds of different species of mammal and is a particular stronghold of the black rhino, though 46 were poached in 2022.

The park hosts 114 mammal species along with 110 reptile species and over 300 bird species. These include African elephants, an internationally important number of southwestern black rhino as well as a few southern white rhino recently reintroduced. Buffalo is locally extinct, but lion leopard and caracal are all common, while cheetah are present but uncommon and servals are rare. Although Cape wild dogs are locally extinct it appears to be the only animal that has been lost.

In other words apart from the Etosha pan it is an incredibly important and large remaining reserve in Africa, and as such it’s continued protection and indeed enough visitors going to keep it in its current state is important.