Nechisar

Nechisar National Park was established in 1974 in southern Ethiopia, in the Rift Valley, and protects some 514 km² between lakes Abaya and Chamo.

Its most recognisable geographical feature is the isthmus separating the two lakes, known as the Bridge of God: a narrow strip of land from which Abaya, reddish with sediment, and Chamo, blue, can be seen at the same time, with the town of Arba Minch in the background. To the east extend the Nechisar plains, which give the park its name and mean white grass in Amharic, from the colour the grass takes on in the dry season.

The park is home to Burchell's zebra, kudu, Grant's gazelle and a notable concentration of large Nile crocodiles on the shore of Chamo, at what is called the crocodile market. Its most singular species is the Nechisar nightjar, a bird described in 1990 from a single specimen: a wing found that same year beside a road in the park. It is one of the few bird taxa in the world known from a single remain, it has never been caught again and its existence as a valid species remains a matter of debate. The park faces conflicts over grazing and settlement.