Liuwa Plain National Park

Liuwa Plain National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Lady Liuwa in November 2012
Location	Kalabo District, Western Province, Zambia
Nearest city	Mongu, Zambia
Coordinates	14°30′S 22°29′E / 14.500°S 22.483°E / -14.500; 22.483
Area	3,369 km2 (1,301 sq mi)
Established	1972
Governing body	African Parks

Borders of Liuwa Plain National Park

Liuwa Plain National Park is a 3,369-square-kilometre (1,301 sq mi) national park in Zambia's Western Province.^[1] "Liuwa" means "plain" in the local Liuwa language, a dialect of Lozi language,^[2][3] and the plains originally served as a hunting ground for Lubosi Lewanika, the Litunga (king or paramount chief) of the Lozi people. The area was designated as a protected area by Lubosi Lewanika in the early 1880s, and as a national park in 1972, when Zambia's government took over management. The nonprofit conservation organization African Parks has managed Liuwa in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Barotse Royal Establishment since 2003.

The park's grasslands support a variety of large mammals, including tens of thousands of blue wildebeest, whose annual migration is Africa's second-largest. Frequently sighted large predators include the cheetah, spotted hyena, and lion, the most famous of which was a female resident called Lady Liuwa, who was the subject of a National Geographic documentary (The Last Lioness) before she died of natural causes in 2017. Lady Liuwa was the only remaining lion in the area, following years of excess hunting, prior to African Parks' assuming management and introducing additional lions to encourage the re-establishment of a pride. More than 300 bird species have been recorded in Liuwa, which has experienced limited tourism until recently. Animal populations have since stabilized, despite declines and local extinctions during the 1990s–2000s.