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History Of Mole National Park Is Ghana 's Largest Protected Area

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CHAPTER THREE MATERIALS AND METHODS INTRODUCTION This chapter looks at the area, its historic background, methodology used for data collection, data analysis methods employed and how data was finally presented. THE STUDY AREA Mole National Park is Ghana’s largest protected area. Situated between Upper West and Tamale, it covers about 4,577 km² and lies between 9° 11’ and 10° 10’ N latitude, and 1° 22’ and 2° 13’ W longitude (MNP, 2011). It was gazetted as a national a park in 1971 for its outstanding wildlife and also to protect representative ecological habitats. Visitors usually see a range of species including elephants, hartebeests, kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, warthogs, roan antelopes, duikers, buffalos, oribis, baboons, patas monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-throated bee-eaters, Abyssinia ground horn-bills, saddle-billed storks, agama lizards, crocodiles, bush snakes and other species (MNP, 2011). The average annual rainfall of the Mole ecosystem is about 1100 mm. More than 90% of the rain falls in the rainy season from April to October, with peaks in July and September. The dry season lasts from November to March. The mean annual temperature of 28°C varies from 26°C in December to 31°C in March. The average range from day to night is 13°C. It can be unpleasantly hot in March and April, with temperatures sometimes in the 40°Cs. The Harmattan (a dry wind from the Sahara) blows during December to February bringing dusty, hazy weather conditions. The relative humidity

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