Mago National Park

Mago National Park is an IUCN Category II protected area located in the South Ethiopia Regional State of southern Ethiopia, approximately 780 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and roughly 40 kilometers southwest of Jinka. Established in 1979, the park covers an area of approximately 2,162 square kilometers along the eastern bank of the Omo River. Elevation within the reserve ranges from 450 meters to 2,528 meters above sea level at the summit of Mount Mago. The landscape is traversed by the Mago and Neri rivers, tributaries of the Omo River, and features a mixture of riverine forests, wetlands around Lake Dipa and the Mago swamp, open grassland savannahs, acacia woodlands, and scrubland-covered hills.The park ecosystem supports 74 recorded species of mammals, 237 species of birds, 10 species of reptiles, and 14 species of fish. Wildlife inhabiting the park includes African buffalo, Lelwel hartebeest, Burchell's zebra, gerenuk, lesser and greater kudu, Guenther's dik-dik, warthogs, defassa waterbuck, and baboons, as well as predators such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, and African wild dogs. The riverine forests and wetlands provide key habitat for hippopotamuses, Nile crocodiles, and diverse bird species, including the dusky babbler, black-rumped waxbill, Pel's fishing owl, violet wood-hoopoe, Allen's gallinule, and Egyptian plover.In addition to its ecological features, Mago National Park encompasses territory traditionally inhabited by several indigenous pastoralist communities within the lower Omo Valley. It is especially known as home to the Mursi people, who reside in villages along the Omo and Mago rivers and are widely recognized for their traditional lip-plates and body ornamentation. Other ethnic groups living in and around the park area include the Aari, Banna, Karo, Hamar, Male, and Kwegu peoples. Access to the park is via unpaved roads extending from the regional base town of Jinka.