Моси-оа-Тунья ұлттық паркі: Замбияның кереметі

National park in Zambia

Mosi oa Tunya National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to one half of the Mosi oa Tunya—"The Smoke that Thunders", known worldwide as Victoria Falls—on the Zambezi River. The river forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, so the falls are shared by the two countries, and the park is twin to the Victoria Falls National Park on the Zimbabwean side. ‘Mosi oa Tunya’ comes from the Kololo or Lozi language, and the name is now used throughout Zambia and in parts of Zimbabwe. It extends downstream from the falls and to the south east along the Batoka Gorges. As of 2022, there were 10 white rhinos in the park. African elephants are often seen in the park when they cross the river in the dry season from the Zimbabwean side. Hippopotamus and crocodile can be seen from the river bank. Vervet monkeys and baboons are common, as they are in the rest of the national park outside the wildlife section. Within the wildlife park is the Old Drift Cemetery, where the first European settlers were buried. They made camp by the river, but kept succumbing to a strange and fatal illness. They blamed the yellow and green barked "fever trees" for this incurable malady, while all the time it was the malarial mosquito causing their demise. Before long the community moved to higher ground and the town of Livingstone emerged.

The falls section of the national park includes the rainforest on the cliff opposite the Eastern Cataract, which is sustained by spray from the falls. It contains plants rare for the area such as pod mahogany, ebony, ivory palm, wild date palm and a number of creepers and lianas. Small antelopes and warthogs inhabit this area, and may also be seen on the paths through the riverine forest leading to the falls. The Knife Edge Bridge was constructed in this area in the 1960s to enable access on foot to the cliffs looking over the Rainbow Falls and the First Gorge's exit to the Boiling Pot in the Second Gorge. A steep footpath also goes down to the Boiling Pot, with views of the Second Gorge and the Victoria Falls Bridge. In the area directly before the river plunges over Victoria Falls, there is a small undeveloped stretch of the park which is currently the only riverfront location that can be accessed without paying a fee. It is a crucial location for elephants to cross the river. The tops of the deep gorges below the falls can be reached by road and walking tracks through the park and are good places to see klipspringers, clawless otters and 35 species of raptors, such as the Taita falcon, Verreaux's eagle, peregrine falcon and augur buzzard, all of which breed there.

This park is considered for inclusion in the five nation Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.