Yankari National Park

Yankari covers around 2,200 square kilometres of Guinea savanna woodland in Bauchi State, and it holds the largest remaining elephant population in Nigeria, estimated at a few hundred animals, along with baboon, patas monkey, waterbuck, roan antelope, bushbuck, hippo in the Gaji river and a long bird list. Poaching has reduced the larger species considerably and lion and buffalo numbers have fallen sharply. The centre of the park is Wikki Warm Spring, water at around thirty-one degrees emerging from a sandstone cliff into a clear pool some two hundred metres long, deep enough to swim in and open day and night. Wikki camp beside it provides the accommodation.

History

No one has lived inside the park for over a century, but people did once: there are old iron-smelting sites and caves, and by the late 1990s more than fifty furnaces still survived in the Delimiri and Ampara area. A game reserve in Bauchi was first recommended in 1934, backed by Alhaji Muhammadu Ngeleruma, a northern minister impressed by a game reserve he had visited in Sudan; the Northern Nigeria government approved the plan in 1956, the area was set aside in 1957, and Yankari opened to the public on 1 December 1962. It became a national park by decree in 1991, but lost that status in 2006 at the request of the Bauchi State government, and it is now officially Yankari Game Reserve (Wikipedia, Yankari Game Reserve).

Highlights

• Wikki Warm Spring - the clear warm pool below the sandstone cliff.
• Elephants - the herds, seen on drives when timing is right.
• Savanna woodland - the wooded grassland of the park interior.
• The Gaji river - the watercourse with hippo and waterbirds.

When to go

November to April in the dry season, when animals concentrate at water and tracks are passable; March and April are hottest but give the best sightings. The rains close much of the park. Drives run early morning and late afternoon.

Good to know

Poaching has reduced wildlife numbers and sightings are far from guaranteed; elephants move seasonally. Accommodation at Wikki camp is basic and has been through periods of neglect. Game drives are in park vehicles at set times, and the park is a long drive from Bauchi town.

Nearby

Bauchi town lies west; Jos is southwest.

Key facts