We have tortoises in various shapes and sizes but what you can’t miss is the 137-year-old which is one of the main attractions at the National Park service Headquarters in Abuja. It weighs about 45 kg. My guide said they counted rings on the turtle’s scutes to help determine it age when he realized I was so interest in knowing how they determined the age. He also said that they are all vegetarians.
This National park is located along Umaru Musa Yar’adua Expressway in Abuja. It is about one kilometre from the city gate and adjacent to the military cemetery and about 23 kilometres from Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport.
I started my sightseeing from the animal orphanage at the park where animals rescued from either poachers or wildlife traffickers are kept before returning them to their natural habitats. There are baby Ostriches, peacocks, birds of various Species and a troop of monkeys to mention a few. We left there for the mini Park which behind the administrative building at about one pm. They have wild animal species such as Duiker, Kob, Crocodile, Gazelle and Ostrich just as what you will see in the main Park in other cities across the country.
Being a wildlife lover, I fully enjoyed the dense vegetation all over. My guide told me that bushes around the artificial stream is the ideal place to catch the crocodiles in the park. Unfortunately, I could not see any of them been the time of the day I visited but I was able to spot barking deer. After two hours of adventurous walk we came back to the museum located in the recreational area where natural history is preserved. It exhibits a wide range of wildlife trophies, artifacts and historical/scientific documents on the various National parks in the country.
