Located north of the Selous Reserve, less than 300 km. from Dar es Salaam, is the Mikumi National Park. Because of its  ccessibility it is one of the most popular parks in Tanzania and is an important centre for education where students go to study ecology and conservation. Awide range of wildlife inhabits its 3,230 sq km area. The Mikumi flood plain, with its open  grasslands, dominates the park together with the mountain ranges that border the park on two sides. Lion is commonly seen as are packs of wild dog, rare elsewhere in Africa. Elephant may be encountered and other animals frequently observed are buffalo, civet, eland, giraffe, impala, kudu, reedbuck, warthog, waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest. Near  the southern boundary of the park it is possible to see groups of female and young bachelor sable with their one dominant male. Crocodiles, monitor lizard andpython are other residents. At the southern end of the flood plain, in the Kikoboga area, families of yellow baboon live while wallowing hippos are frequently joined in their pools by flocks of open-billed storks, hunting for molluscs. Over 400 species of birds have been observed in the park, many of which are Eurasian migrants who stay between October and Apri