This remote, desolate and undeveloped park is situated in the centre of a Game Management Area (GMA). The park is unfenced allowing access and free movement between the GMA and the mighty Zambezi River. This area is an essential link for the annual migratory path of the elephants, as it shares a border with Angola and Namibia.
Although the park is heavily poached, it does provide a refuge for elephants from Angola where poaching is rife. The park is situated only 50km away from Botswana and as a result owes much of the stereotypical landscape to the Kalahari sand underneath the flora. For the most part, the park is dry and flat and densely wooded. There is dense miombo and acacia woodland, with the odd patch of teak and a few open dambos (clearings), surrounding the rarity of a pool.
This is the only place outside of the Luangwa Valley and Mosi oa Tunya Park where giraffe are found in Zambia, and even then they are an Angolan subspecies. Other antelope in this park include roan, sable, tsessebe, blue wildebeest and zebra, which are the primary food source for the lions, leopards and spotted hyenas.
Poaching is an everyday occurrence here (perhaps due to the poverty), especially on the east side of the park where there are a number of villages. There is still a large amount of game due to the size, remoteness and denseness of the bush. Game viewing is best in the central and western regions of the Sioma Ngwezi National Park where there has been less illegal hunting.