Yangudi Rassa National Park
Yangudi Rassa National Park is a national park in Ethiopia located in the Afar Region, its 4730 square kilometers of territory include Mount Yangudi near the southern border and the surrounding Rassa Plains, with altitudes from 400 to 1459 meters above sea level. Sandy semi-desert and wooded grassland cover the majority of the park's area. This park lies between the territory of the Afars and the Issas, and while violence have been frequent between them, most of the park is in an area where they avoid each other. As a result, most of the active protection of the park is focused on managing their conflict.
This national park was proposed in 1977 in specific to protect the African wild ass, but the steps needed to officially establish this park had not been completed. Recently, the wild ass became extinct in Yagundi Rassa. However, there is a small population in the adjacent Mile-Serdo Wild Ass Reserve.
The park headquarters are in Gewane. Large animals native to the park include Beisa oryx, Soemmering's gazelle, gerenuk and Grevy's zebra. Bird species of interest include Phoenicopterus minor, Petronia brachydactyla and Ardeotis arabs. The Awash-Asseb highway crosses the Yangudi Rassa National Park, as does the Awash River.
