The Mkomazi Game Reserve (MGR), situated between Mt Kilimanjaro and the Indian Ocean, encompasses over 1,200 square miles in north-east Tanzania. Mkomazi is adjacent to Kenya's Tsavo National Park. Together, the two areas constitute one of the largest protected wilderness ecosystems in Africa. In 1988, the Tanzanian government asked Tony Fitzjohn to reclaim Mkomazi, which was then on the brink of ecological disaster due to overgrazing, burning and indiscriminate hunting and poaching. Since then, the elephant, lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah, impala, eland, oryx and lesser kudu populations have made a remarkable recovery and steady increases have been observed in the numbers of water buffalo, zebra, giraffe and kongoni. The Mkomazi reserve not only hosts 78 species of wildlife all year round, it is also home to over 450 species of bird: doves, hornbills, weavers and guinea-fowl are all present in large numbers – besides such striking species as the martial eagle and the violet wood-hoopoe. Mkomazi is a truly unique area, both for its density and the diversity of its wildlife. A proposal has been submitted to upgrade its status to National Park.
Kora National Park in Kenya, stretching for nearly 500 square miles, is one of the finest wilderness areas in East Africa. Situated in north central Kenya with over 70 miles of spectacular and pristine Tana River forest frontage, the ancient luggas, or sand rivers, and stately Gneiss rock outcrops, Kora has the look and feel of Land Before Time. Home to many animals including the elephant, lion, striped hyena, leopard, buffalo, giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, hippo and crocodile, not forgetting various species of monkeys and birds, it is recovering under Meru Park KWS management. Kora was the home of George Adamson and Tony Fitzjohn for 20 years and neither the Trust nor Tony has forgotten the debt owed to both the people and the place. Together with Meru National Park, Kora falls under the jurisdiction of the Kenya Wildlife Services. A bridge over the Tana River links the two. In recent years, the Trust has focused on helping the Kenya Wildlife Services to rebuild George Adamson's old camp as a memorial and a tourist attraction. They have assisted with the development of the Park and have joined forces with AMREF, the Flying Doctors Service of East Africa, to fund comprehensive community programs for health, clean water and agriculture in the local village. Over the years, both areas have been the subject of ecological inventories and scientific expeditions mounted by the Royal Geographical Society in London, which has published detailed monographs of the areas.
