Wildlife in Ruaha is concentrated along the Great Ruaha River that is the park’s lifeblood. The river is a torrent after the rains, dwindling to a few precious ponds of water surrounded by a sweep of sand in the dry season. Waterbuck, impala and the world’s most southerly lives for a sip of water the shores of Ruaha are a permanent hunting ground for lion, leopard, jackal, hyena and the rare and endangered African Wild Dog Ruaha’s 8,000 elephants are recovering strongly from ivory poaching during the 1980s and remain the largest population in East Africa Ruaha is the only protected area in which the flora and fauna of eastern and southern African overlap leading to fascinating combinations of wildlife both Greater and lesser kudu live here, as do sable and Roan Antelope