The US Ambassador to Tanzania had a once-in-a-lifetime experience – for now anyway – when he visited Mkomazi National Park in Northern Tanzania. There he came face-to-face with a rare black rhino, the closest he’s ever been so close to any rhino.
- The few remaining black rhinos are living protected at Mkomazi Park, famous for rhino conservation in East Africa.
- The Tanzania National Parks authority has created viewing points in the park to allow tourists to view the rhinos at a very close range.
- The park had once remained remote and inaccessible since its establishment in 1951, but is now pulling in tourists to its setting in the Pare and Usambara Eastern Arc Mountains.
The United States Ambassador to Tanzania, Dr. Donald Wright, visited Mkomazi National Park in Northern Tanzania which provided great excitement when he encountered an African black rhino, a rare and most-hunted wild animal.
The US Ambassador had paid for a 2-day visit to Mkomazi Park, which is famous for rhino conservation in East Africa. Here, the few remaining black rhinos remain under protection by the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) in collaboration with international wildlife conservation organizations.
Mkomazi Rhino Park attracted the interest of Dr. Wright, the newly-accredited United States Ambassador to Tanzania, who said it was exhilarating for him as it was the first time he got to see rhinos at such close range. The Tanzania National Parks authority has created viewing points in the park to allow tourists to view the rhinos at a very close range.
The US Ambassador Diplomat predicted that Mkomazi Rhino Park’s reputation would be at the next level in a few years to come and would have many tourists from different parts of the world coming to visit.
Mkomazi National Park, famously referred to as “Home to the Rare Species,” is a magnificent African wildlife park covering some 3,500 square kilometers on Pare Mountains overlooking Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Mount Kilimanjaro can also be seen from the Park depending on the weather conditions of the day.
The park had once remained remote and inaccessible since its establishment in 1951, but the rhino sanctuary in its beautiful setting on the Pare and Usambara Eastern Arc Mountains, are is now pulling in tourists.
After the tour, Dr. Wright promised to encourage the American people to visit the park and with a promise he would return there again.
Together with Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, Mkomazi Rhino Park forms one of the largest and most important protected ecosystems in East Africa and Africa in general. It is located some 112 km east of Moshi town in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Special black African Rhino programs have been launched to protect the breeding rhinos in Mkomazi over the past 25 years. Black rhinos used to roam freely between Mkomazi and the Tsavo ecosystem, covering Tsavo West National Park in Kenya. Together with Tsavo, Mkomazi forms one of the largest protected ecosystems in the world.
