Most people have never heard of Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park, or even know where this particular park is located at. For those who do not know, Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park is located in Central Africa Republic, which is located in Central Africa. Central Africa Republic is about the size of France. The climate there is very tropical and can also be semi-humid, which means that the country has an annual rainfall from 950 to 1700mm. Rainfall normally occur during the months of June and last till November. From December to May, the climate is normally hot and dry. The country is also very rich in natural resources. Manovo-Gounda St. Foris National Park was established in 1933 and was name Oubangui-Chari National Park and was located on 13,500ha. The park was renamed Matoumara National Park in 1935. In 1940 the name changed again, this time to St. Floris National Park. The amount of land that the park operated on had increased to 40,000ha. By 1960 the park had tremendously grown and was currently operating on 100,00ha and in 1974 it was operating on 277,000ha. In 1979 the name change once again, but this time it changed to the name that the park is currently operating under which is Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park. Currently the area of the park is 1,740,000ha or 4.2 million acres. Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park is home to a variety of faunas and floras. The wildlife animals include animals like the black rhinoceroses, giraffes, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs, buffalos, elephants, etc. There are at least 57 different types of mammals, over 320 different types of birds, and at least 25 species of raptor all residing within the park. At one time this park was considered on of the most protected park in Central Africa. In 1988, the park was added to the Natural World Heritage Site, because of the diversity of wildlife that existed within the park. In 1997, things had drastically
References: Ask.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2007, from http://www.ask.com/reference/dictionary/ahdict/103817/poaching Black Rhino. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2007, from http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/Black_Rhino/index.htm Protected Areas Programme. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2007, from http://www2.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/wh/manovo.html United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. (n.d). Manovo-gounda st. franis national park, central africa republic. Retrieved August 26, 2007, from http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/manovo.html