MOLE NATIONAL PARK

The largest, oldest and most developed park, Mole began in 1957 as a game reserve. It was upgraded into a National Park in 1964. It covers an area of 4,912 sq. km.

The vegetation is savannah woodland with gallery forest along watercourses. 734 species of flowering plants have been recorded in the park. 90 mammalian species including elephant, buffalo, roan, kob, hartebeest, water buck, reed buck and other antelopes.

Lions, hyenas. leopards and monkeys, crocodiles and over 300 kinds of birds, half of them winter migrants from Europe have been recorded in this vast park.

There are 33 camps and 500 km of viewing road. The symbol of the park is the Roan Antelope.

Among the estimated 500 elephants found at the Mole National Park are three relatively “tame” individuals.
Because of the good protection given to animals in the Park, the elephant have generally become used to visitors and allow them to get close during the guided tours of the Park. Moreover, every year, during the dry season, between January and April, when most of the watercourses dry up in the Park, many of the thirsty animals come to a pond lying near the Park’s Motel to drink and bathe.

This permits people to have a good view of them. However, for the three named elephants, their tameness is unique.

Instead of visitors taking the trouble to go down the pond or trek around the Park to watch them, they rather have developed the habit of frequently coming. They wander about the front of the Motel grounds and feed on the fresh grass and shrubs, less visited by others.

Apart from the Motel, these friendly elephants would be seen roaming around the backyard of the staff and head quarters compound.

They are like domestic animals and have become very familiar with the people, who have given them different names based on their characters.

“Old man” the old bull, is known for its matured behavior while “onipa-nua” man’s friend is renowned for its exceptionally cool attitude to those who inadvertently cross its path. When it joined the two at first, young “Action” was inexperienced with people and once got nervous with someone who upset it by getting too close to it.

In response, it made a mock charge on the intruder because of which it earned the nickname, “Action”.

The advantage gained by visitors of these friendly elephants, are the close photographs they can take of them or sometimes posing as near as 10 meters to be photographed with the elephants in the background.

However, caution is required, the animals are still wild