Samburu National Reserve

Samburu National Reserve
IUCN category II (national park)
Entrance
Location of Samburu National Reserve
Location	Kenya, Samburu County
Coordinates	0°37′5″N 37°31′48″E / 0.61806°N 37.53000°E / 0.61806; 37.53000
Area	165 km2 (64 sq mi)
Established	1985

Samburu National Reserve is a game reserve on the banks of the Ewaso Ng'iro river in Kenya. It is 165 km² (64 sq mi) in size and is 350 km (220 mi) from Nairobi. It ranges in elevation from 800 to 1,230 m (2,620 to 4,040 ft).^[1] Geographically and administratively, it is part of Samburu County.

In the middle of the reserve, the Ewaso Ng'iro flows through doum palm groves and thick riverine forests. It provides water without which the animals in this arid region could not survive.

Samburu National Reserve was one of the two areas in which conservationists George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa the Lioness, made famous in the best-selling book and award-winning movie Born Free. The Elephant Watch Camp, of which Saba Douglas-Hamilton is director, lies within the park. Samburu National Reserve is also the home of Kamunyak, a lioness famous for adopting oryx calves.