Established in 1979, the remote Mago National Park extends over an area of 2,162 km2. It spans both sides of the Mago river, which flows into the Omo at the southern boundary of the park. Mago National Park shares a 5 km boundary with the more westerly and even more remote Omo National Park, and the two form a continuous ecological unit with a total area of 6,230 km2 (although the lack of a bridge across the Omo River means crossing between the two parks is practically impossible).
The Omo-Mago ecosystem is the closest thing that Ethiopia has to the classic savannah reserves of the rest of East Africa. The park consists of a vast tract of humid low-lying acacia woodland, interspersed with small areas of open savannah and pristine riparian forest lining the Mago river. There are also extensive swamp lands that rise sharply to the Rift Escarpment and the 2,528 m high Mount Mago in the north.
Although Mago National Park is home to over 75 mammal species, many of the larger species including lions, buffalo, elephants, reticulated giraffes and Grevy's zebras have been severely depleted by decades of poaching and they are now rarely seen. However, plenty of antelope species such as Defassa waterbuck, gerenuk, tiang, bushbuck, Lelwel hartebeest, greater kudu, lesser kudu and Gunther's dik-dik are still present in good numbers. Primates are also easily seen and include olive baboons, patas and grivet monkeys and guereza and DeBrazza's monkeys. Bird life is also in abundance, with more than 300 species recorded in the park. These include Egyptian plover, Pel's fishing owl, black-rumped waxbill and dusky babbler.
One of the greatest attractions of the park though is the chance to visit the Mursi people who live alongside the Mago River.