Etosha National Park

 𝐄𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 is a national park in 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐚 and one of the 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚.It spans an area of 𝟐𝟐,𝟐𝟕𝟎 𝐤𝐦^𝟐  and was named after the large 𝐄𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐧 which is almost entirely within the park. With an area of 𝟒,𝟕𝟔𝟎 𝐤𝐦^𝟐, the Etosha pan covers 𝟐𝟑% of the total area of the national park.The area is home to 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬, including several 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 and 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 species such as the 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬.

The 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬 are the 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 in the national park. The main depression covers an area of about 𝟓,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬. The 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 of the pan limit the species that can permanently inhabit the pan itself, occurrences of 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨-𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬 are present, which can tolerate the hypersaline conditions.The salt pan is usually dry, but fills with water briefly in summer, when it attracts 𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 and 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐬 in particular.

The Etosha National Park has a 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞. The 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 is 𝟐𝟒 °𝐂.In most places in the park, the pans are 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 with the exception of 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐮𝐬, a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧-𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬 that is eaten by grazers like 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐭 and 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐨𝐤.The areas around the Etosha pan also have other halophytic vegetation including grasses like 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 and 𝐎𝐝𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬, as well as shrubs like 𝐒𝐮𝐚𝐞𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚.

The park has about 𝟏𝟏𝟒 𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝟑𝟒𝟎 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝟏𝟏𝟎 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝟏𝟔 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 and 𝟏 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡.By 𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟏, large game mammals like 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐫𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 and 𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 had been nearly exterminated in the region.The proclamation of the game reserve helped some of the animals recover, but some species like 𝐛𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐨 and 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬 have been extinct since the middle of the 20th century.