Lavushi Manda National Park is a national park in the Muchinga Province of Zambia with an area of 1,500 sq km. It is the 11th largest of the 20 National Parks in Zambia. The park was initially gazetted as a Game Reserve in 1941, and was declared a National Park in 1972. It is located in a district of the same name (Lavushimanda), with the South Luangwa National Park in the neighbouring Mpika District. It is adjacent to Bangweulu Game Management Area to the northwest, Kafinda Game Management Area lies further west. The chiefdom of Chiundaponde (Bisa people) is in the northwest, north lies Luchembe, northwest Chikwanda, east Mpumba (Bisa people), and south lies Muchinka chiefdom. It covers a small range of mountains and hills, and is principally covered in miombo woodlands, with a number of rivers and streams, and a few areas of grassland, both on drier land or in the form of seasonally wet dambos. There are few large mammals, due to poaching in the previous century, but fishing and hiking are possible. Certain antelope species retreat upland to the park from the Bangweulu swamps to the northwest during the rainy season.
Geology and hydrology Lavushi Manda lies on the plateau area of Lavushimanda District between the Muchinga Escarpment and the alluvial flats of the Bangweulu floodplain. The scenery is dominated by the 40 to 47 km long Lavushi mountains in the southern half of the park. This range reaches up to 1,811 meters altitude, forming one of the highest points in Zambia. The rocks in the rugged landscape are mainly quartzites, which are ancient metamorphosed sandstones.
Away from this range, the park is dominated by undulating or rather flat terrain, covered by vast stretches of miombo woodlands interspersed with large seasonally wet grasslands and valleys (dambos) feeding into numerous seasonal and perennial streams. Evergreen riparian forest lines much of the banks of the perennial streams.
There are numerous seasonal and perennial streams. Perennial rivers which drain the park are, from southwest to northeast, the Lulimala, Lukulu, Lumbatwa (including the Lubweshi) and Mufubushi. All of these streams form part of the boundaries and, with the exception of the Lukulu, have their sources on the boundaries of the park. These streams all flow into Lake Bangweulu. Kapanda Lupili and Mumba Tuta are two waterfalls on the Lukulu as it enters and exits the park, respectively; the Kanyanga waterfalls are also in the park on this river.Coetzer W (2020). Occurrence records of southern African aquatic biodiversity. Version 1.33. The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/pv7vds accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?q=Lavushi%20Manda&country=ZM&dataset_key=1aaec653-c71c-4695-9b6e-0e26214dd817European Nucleotide Archive (EMBL-EBI) (2019). Geographically tagged INSDC sequences. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/cndomv accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2310628546 The Lukulu is normally a small river, but in December heavy rains begin which colour and raise the level of the water, and increase flows.
There are numerous rocky pans and flat plains throughout the park which form seasonal lakes. Although there are no truly permanent lakes in the park, the Chibembe plain and Lake Mikonko keep a substantial surface of standing water well into the dry season.
Habitats The habitats within the park are the Lavushi mountains, large dambo grasslands, woodlands, streams and rivers.
Deciduous, open forest covers approximately 80% of the park. Miombo woodland is the principal type, especially in the hills, characterised by a dominance of trees from the genera Brachystegia, Isoberlinia, Julbernardia and Uapaca.
Riparian forest occurs as a narrow evergreen strip following the perennial streams or as a deciduous or semi-deciduous strip fringing the seasonal streams.
The grasslands in the park are especially seasonally wet headwater dambo grasslands. Bog grasslands are common especially near the mountains where seepage water creates year-round wet conditions.
Flora Hibiscus meeusei has been collected at higher altitudes just within the park.Gaisberger H, Endresen D (2019). Bioversity Collecting Mission Database. Version 1.10. Bioversity International. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ulk1iz accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1563482491 Agarista salicifolia was collected on Lavushi Mountain,Bijmoer R, Scherrenberg M, Creuwels J (2021). Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL) - Botany. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ib5ypt accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2517480778 and Justicia richardsiae was found growing on hard laterite pan soil.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2021). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Herbarium Specimens. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ly60bx accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/912450905 A typical feature of the riparian forests in Lavushi Manda are the frequent presence of Raphia farinifera (raphia palm), which is absent in the nearby Kasanka National Park.
Fauna Mammals Protracted poaching has led to a serious depletion of all larger mammal populations. The last wild black rhinoceros in Zambia was observed in LMNP in the late eighties. Warthog and common duiker are sometimes sighted. Primates include vervets and yellow baboons, sometimes classified as Kinda baboons. In the grasslands there are side-striped jackal, sable antelope and bushbuck. In the wet season antelopes such as the roan, sable and hartebeest move upland to the area from the swamps of Bangweulu. Lions may occur in the park, but have never been sighted. A camera trap survey in 2017 found several herds of sable, and several bush pig, common duiker, reedbuck, bushbuck, aardvark, African civet and serval. One leopard was caught on camera in Lavushi Manda in 2017.
In 2017 150 puku were moved from Kasanka National Park to the Bangweulu Game Management Area by African Parks, a number quickly moved from there into the Chimbwe plain and lower Lukulu river valley in LMNP.
Klipspringer, bush dassie and Smith's red rock rabbits occur among the rocks. There are hippopotami in the Lukulu river.
Birds
A checklist was complied by the Kasanka Trust in 2011 of potential bird species which the park might hold. In 1998 BirdWatch Zambia went birdwatching in the park for BirdLife International. A number of exclusively miombo birds were registered in 1998, and the list of these birds were used by BirdLife International to designate Lavushi Manda as an "Important Bird Area" as of 2001, for protecting common species typical of the vast miombo regions of Southern Africa. The only bird thought to possibly occur in the park at the time which was considered somewhat rare (at the time) was the migratory great snipe, which might arrive in the winter. The designation included the nearby Luitikila Forest Reserve and Bangweulu Game Management Area, although the national park appears to be the only locality studied in 1998.
Lavushi Manda is home to rock-associated species such as black eagles, Augur buzzards, freckled nightjar, striped pipit, mocking chat and red-winged starling. Dambo grasslands support marsh widowbird and locustfinch. Stanley's bustard, a typical dry grassland species, has been recorded. The coqui francolin was photographed in the park in 2017.Christiaan van der Hoeven, Stichting Natuurinformatie in de Vries H, Lemmens M. Observation.org, Nature data from around the World. Observation.org. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/5nilie accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2843372398 Miombo woodlands hold a variety of typical birds of this habitat such as pale-billed hornbill, racquet-tailed roller, Souza's shrike, Böhm's flycatcher, Böhm's bee-eater, Anchieta's barbet, miombo pied barbet, white-faced barbet, Anchieta's sunbird, western miombo sunbird, Hartlaub's babbler, Kurrichane thrush,Levatich T, Ligocki S (2020). EOD - eBird Observation Dataset. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?q=Lavushi%20Manda&country=ZM&dataset_key=4fa7b334-ce0d-4e88-aaae-2e0c138d049e miombo scrub-robin, miombo rock-thrush, Stierling's wren-warbler, red-capped crombec, miombo tit, rufous-bellied tit, black-necked eremomela, brown firefinch, Fülleborn's longclaw, black-eared seedeater, Tabora cisticola, Arnot's chat and bushveld pipit. All but the last were spotted here in the 1998 BirdWatch Zambia excursion. A July 2018 visit under the eBird program also observed the following additional species in the park: cardinal woodpecker, emerald-spotted wood dove, ring-necked dove, black-backed puffback, white-breasted cuckooshrike, southern black flycatcher, fork-tailed drongo, red-headed weaver, black-crowned tchagra, tawny-flanked prinia, golden-breasted bunting, green-capped eremomela, chinspot batis, yellow-bellied hyliota and swallow-tailed bee-eater.
African finfoot, African broadbill, Ross' turaco, Schalow's turaco, narina trogon and chestnut-bellied kingfisher occur in the park near the rivers. The palm-nut vulture is a common sight in the thick riverine gallery forests while in a kayak. The sunbird Cinnyris chalybeus was collected in the park in 1954, when it was still a game reserve,Feeney R (2019). LACM Vertebrate Collection. Version 18.7. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/77rmwd accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/657118577 as was Apalis thoracica.Natural History Museum (2021). Natural History Museum (London) Collection Specimens. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.5519/0002965 accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1291394550 The apalis, Böhm's flycatcher, black sparrowhawk and Pel's fishing owl are also found in riparian forests.
The park hosts large numbers of several Palaearctic and African migrants. Collared flycatchers are a common wintering visitor in the miombo.
Reptiles and amphibians A checklist was complied in 2015 of potential species which the park might hold.
There are Nile crocodiles which occur in the Lukulu river. A sand snake identified at the time as Psammophis sibilans was collected in this region in 1932 ("Nsanga River" west of Lavushi), before it had even become a game reserve,Natural History Museum (2021). Natural History Museum (London) Collection Specimens. Occurrence https://doi.org/10.5519/0002965 accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-04-09. although recent studies of this species would likely classify it as either Ps. orientalis, Ps. mossambicus or the recently described Ps. zambiensis. Similarly, Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus was identified in the "Lavushi Hills" some time before 1934, but a more recent taxonomy would possibly classify this record as Gerrhosaurus intermedius, although it is essentially unclear.
A herping excursion in December 2015 found the skink Mochlus sundevallii (at Fibishi Camp) and the chameleon Chamaeleo dilepis in the park. Possibly unique new forms of the skinks Trachylepis varia (on the mountain range) and T. striata were found in the park. Frogs found were Ptychadena grandisonae and Tomopterna tuberculosa.
Fish
Biodiversity in catches downstream from Mumba Tuta Falls is higher than further upstream, suggesting that these falls are a barrier for fish migration.