magazine article reprinted on their website, APN claims that sustainable management of the Ethiopian parks is incompatible with "the irresponsible way of living of some of the ethnic groups". African Parks added that the emphasis for resettling inhabitants out of the park, rather than educating them to work with them, came from the Ethiopian government. APN was told that the Guji were an Oromo people, and "they belong in the adjoining Oromiya province, not among the Gamo and Gofa peoples of the Southern District, where the park is". Geography and landscape The important regional centre to the park is Arba Minch in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Approximately 15% of the park consists of lakes including Lake Abaya in the north and Lake Chamo in the south. Part of the habitat consists of the groundwater forest and shoreline of the lakes, but there are also dry grassy plains. The altitude ranges from 1,108 meters above sea level at the shore of Lake Chamo to 1,650 meters on Mount Tabala in the north-east, renowned for its hot springs. Taller trees found in the park include Dichrostachys cinerea, Acacia tortilis, Balanites aegyptiaca and less common Acacia nilotica. The southern part of the park is dominated by edaphic grassland and a calcareous black clay soil underneath with Dobera glabra, Acacia tortilis and the grass Chrysopogon aucheri forming much of the landscape. Both invasive species and woody plant encroachment are a threat to the biodiversity of the national park. Wildlife Wildlife in the park include plains zebra, Grant's gazelle, dik-dik, Hippopotamus, African leopard, Spotted hyena, and greater kudu as well as one of the last three populations of the endangered Swayne's hartebeest, Lion, and Cheetah. A stretch of the northwest shore of Lake Chamo is known as Crocodile Market, where hundreds of Nile crocodiles gather to bask. The park also hosts bushbuck, waterbuck, bushpig, Anubis baboon, vervet monkeys, and black-backed jackal. The endangered African wild dog Lycaon pictus, once existed in the park, but may now be extirpated due to human population pressures in this region. In 2009, a small group of less than 23 lions were estimated in and around the protected area. Nechisar National Park is considered an important habitat for birds including kingfishers, storks, pelicans, flamingos and African fish eagles. References External links The National Parks of Ethiopia: Nechisar National Park (Addis Tribune) World Database on Protected Areas factsheet on Nechisar National