Ruaha National Park is the 2nd largest in Tanzania, covering an area of more than 13,000 square kilometers in the Iringa Region. Many who visited this park at the right season, rate it as favorite anywhere in the continent. The name Ruaha owes to Great Ruaha river which flows along the eastern border. The Friends of Ruaha Society, a British bilateral aid program is funding a project on community based wildlife, a management plan for Ruaha ecosystem and a project to direct the benefits of tourism to the people who live around the park. Ruaha National Park is is extremely interesting as it presents the transition zone where southern African and eastern African Species of flora and fauna overlap, therefore, it has unique variety of animals, birds and vegetation.Main Vegetation in Ruaha National Park are Miombo woodland, acacia grassland and baobab trees. However, the park is very rich in big games. it is well-recognizable for the large herds of Elephant, Giraffe, Buffalo and Impala, and numerous Greater lesser Kudu as well as wild dogs, lions and leopard are also common. The Great Ruaha River, that border the park in the east, provide habitation for hippopotamus and crocodiles. Birds can be watched along the river banks too (the park has recorded more than 540 species of bird, which is one of the highest bird species diversity in East Africa)
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