Upemba National Park

a national park in the Republic of Zaïre, in Shaba Province. Area, 950,000 hectares (1975). Upemba National Park was created in 1939. Its eastern section consists of the Manika and Kibara plateaus, which rise to elevations of 1,889 m and are dissected by the Lufira River. The western section is a graben with a flat bottom that contains shallow lakes, the largest being Lake Upemba. The plateaus have savanna-type thin forests and secondary mountain savannas. The graben has high-grass savannas, with papyrus swamps along the rivers and on the lake shores. Upemba’s fauna comprises 115 mammal species, including elephant, black rhinoceros, lion, zebra, antelope, and hippopotamus, and more than 500 bird species, including many waterfowl and marsh birds.