Victoria Falls

David Livingstone was the first European recorded to have viewed the falls on 16 November 1855, from an island now known as Livingstone Island, one of two land masses in the middle of the river, immediately upstream from the falls near the Zambian shore.{{Cite web |title=Livingstone Tourism Association, Victoria Falls, Zambia |location=Livingstone, Zambia |work=livingstonetourism.com |access-date=7 August 2018 |url=http://www.livingstonetourism.com/}} Livingstone named his sighting in honour of Queen Victoria, but the Lozi language name, Mosi-oa-Tunya—"The Smoke That Thunders"—continues in common usage. The World Heritage List officially recognises both names.{{Cite web |url=http://www.world-waterfalls.com/index.php |title=World Waterfalls & Water Filters for Filtration of Clean Water |access-date=11 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714073724/http://www.world-waterfalls.com/index.php |archive-date=14 July 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown}} Livingstone also cited an older name, Seongo or Chongwe, which means "The Place of the Rainbow", as a result of the constant spray.{{cite book |last=Wellington |first=John H. |title=Southern Africa: A Geographical Study |url={{google books |id=mFoBAAAAMAAJ |page=392 |keywords=mosi-oa-yunya |plainurl=yes}} |volume=1 |year=1955|publisher=University Press|location=Cambridge|page=392}}

The nearby national park in Zambia is named Mosi-oa-Tunya, whereas the national park and town on the Zimbabwean shore are both named Victoria Falls.{{cite web |title=Medium Term Plan (MTP): January 2010 – December 2015|publisher=Government of Zimbabwe |url=http://www.kubatana.net/docs/econ/goz_medium_term_plan_100706.pdf|access-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195908/http://www.kubatana.net/docs/econ/goz_medium_term_plan_100706.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2013}}

Victoria Falls is classified as the largest based on its combined width of {{convert|1708|m|ft}}Southern Africa Places (2009). Victoria Falls. Retrieved on 18 May 2009 from [http://www.places.co.za/html/vicfalls.html Victoria Falls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406195828/http://www.places.co.za/html/vicfalls.html |date=6 April 2012 }} – South Africa Places and height of {{convert|108|m|ft}},{{cite web |url={{wdl|550}} |title = Victoria Falls |work = World Digital Library | date = 1890–1925 |access-date = 1 June 2013 }} resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water.

For a considerable distance upstream from the falls, the Zambezi flows over a level sheet of basalt in a shallow valley, bounded by low and distant sandstone hills. The river's course is dotted with numerous tree-covered islands, which increase in number when the river approaches the falls. There is a flat plateau extending in all directions.

The falls are formed where the full width of the river plummets in a single vertical drop into a transverse chasm {{convert|1708|m}} wide, carved along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau. The depth of the chasm, called the First Gorge, varies from {{convert|80|m|ft}} at its western end to {{convert|108|m|ft}} in the centre. The only outlet from the First Gorge is a {{convert|110|m|ft|adj=mid|-wide}} gap about two-thirds of the way across the width of the falls from the western end. The whole volume of the river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges from this narrow cleft.{{Cite book |title=Natural Wonders of the World |publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc |year=1980 |isbn=0-89577-087-3 |editor-last=Scheffel |editor-first=Richard L. |location=United States of America |pages=402–403 |editor-last2=Wernet |editor-first2=Susan J. |url={{google books |plainurl=yes |id=5gopAQAAMAAJ |page=402 |keywords=Victoria Falls}} }}

Two islands are situated on the crest of the falls: Boaruka Island (or Cataract Island) near the western bank, and Livingstone Island near the middle. At less than full flood, additional islets divide the curtain of water into separate parallel streams. The main streams are named, in order from Zimbabwe (west) to Zambia (east): the Devil's Cataract (called Leaping Water by some), the Main Falls, the Rainbow Falls (the highest) and the Eastern Cataract.

File:Victoria Falls 2019 8.webm

The River Zambezi, upstream from the falls, experiences a rainy season from late November to early April, and a dry season the rest of the year. The river's annual flood season is February to May with a peak in April.[http://www.dams.org/docs/kbase/studies/cszzanx.pdf World Commission on Dams website:] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701005448/http://www.dams.org/docs/kbase/studies/cszzanx.pdf |date=1 July 2007 }} "Case Study – Kariba Dam-Zambezi River Basin" Annex 13 & 14 Victoria Falls Mean Monthly Flows. Website accessed 1 March 2007. This website gives mean monthly flow rates in cubic metres per second (i.e., the total volume of water passing in each calendar month divided by the number of seconds in the month), the standard measure used in hydrology to indicate seasonal variation in flow. A figure of around 9,000 m³/s (318,000 cu ft) is quoted by many websites for Victoria Falls but this is the mean maximum instantaneous rate, which is only achieved for a few days per year. The figure of 536 million m³/minute (18.9 billion cu ft/min) on some websites (e.g. ZNTB) is an error for 536 million litres/minute (equivalent to 9,100 m³/s, 142 million U.S. gallons or 118 million Imperial gallons per min). The '10-year maximum' is the mean of the maximum monthly rate returned in a ten-year period. The spray from the falls typically rises to a height of over {{convert|400|m}}, sometimes up to twice as high, and is visible from up to {{cvt|50|km|mi|-1}} away. At full moon, a "moonbow" can also be seen. During the flood season, however, the foot and the face of the waterfall can't be seen.{{cite book |title=Spectrum Guide to Zambia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlUwAQAAIAAJ |year=1996 |publisher=Camerapix Publishers International |location=Nairobi |isbn=978-1-86872-012-5 |via=Struik Publishers}}

When the dry season takes effect, the islets on the crest become wider and more numerous. From September to January, up to half of the rocky face of the falls may become dry, allowing the bottom of the First Gorge to be seen along most of its length. At this time, it becomes possible (though not necessarily safe) to walk across some stretches of the river at the crest. It is also possible to walk to the bottom of the First Gorge at the Zimbabwean side. The minimum flow, which occurs in November, is around a tenth of the April figure; this variation in flow is greater than that of other major falls and causes the Victoria Falls' annual average flow rate to be lower than might be expected based on the maximum flow. In 2019 unusually low rain dramatically reduced the fall to the lowest flow in a century. Global climate change and changed climate patterns are suggested to have caused this.{{cite news |title=Victoria Falls slows to a trickle, fuelling fears of climate change |language=en |date=7 December 2019 |website=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-07/victoria-falls-slows-to-a-trickle-amid-climate-change-fears/11777178}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/07/victoria-falls-dries-to-a-trickle-after-worst-drought-in-a-century |title=Victoria Falls dries to a trickle after worst drought in a century |date=7 December 2019 |work=The Guardian}}File:Cataratas Victoria, Zambia-Zimbabue, 2018-07-27, DD 16-20 PAN.jpg

File:Cataratas Victoria, Zambia-Zimbabue, 2018-07-27, DD 36-43 PAN.jpg

The entire volume of the Zambezi River pours through the First Gorge's {{cvt|110|m}} wide exit for a distance of about {{cvt|150|m}}, then enters a zigzagging series of gorges designated by the order in which the river reaches them. Water entering the Second Gorge makes a sharp right turn and has carved out a deep pool there called the Boiling Pot. Reached via a steep footpath from the Zambian side, it is about {{cvt|150|m}} across. Its surface is smooth at low water, but at high water is marked by enormous, slow swirls and heavy turbulence.

The principal gorges are

• First Gorge: the one the river falls into at Victoria Falls
• Second Gorge: {{cvt|250|m}} south of falls, {{cvt|2.15|km}} long, spanned by the Victoria Falls Bridge
• Third Gorge: {{cvt|600|m}} south, {{cvt|1.95|km}} long, containing the Victoria Falls Power Station
• Fourth Gorge: {{cvt|1.15|km}} south, {{cvt|2.25|km}} long
• Fifth Gorge: {{cvt|2.25|km}} south, {{cvt|3.2|km}} long
• Songwe Gorge: {{cvt|5.3|km}} south, {{cvt|3.3|km}} long named after the small Songwe River coming from the north-east, and the deepest at {{cvt|140|m}}, the level of the river in them varies by up to {{cvt|20|m}} between wet and dry seasons.

File:Victoria Falls National Park marker.jpg

The Upper Zambezi River originally drained south through present day Botswana to join the Limpopo River.{{Cite journal |author=Moore, A.E. |author2=Cotterill, F. P. D. |author3=Broderick, T. |author4=Plowes, D. |title=Landscape evolution in Zimbabwe from the Permian to present, with implications for kimberlite prospecting |year=2009 |url=http://www.mantleplumes.org/WebDocuments/Moore2009_2.pdf |publisher=Geological Society of South Africa |journal=South African Journal of Geology |volume=112 |issue=1 |page=82 |doi=10.2113/gssajg.112.1.65 |bibcode=2009SAJG..112...65M}}{{Cite journal |author=Spaliviero, M. |author2=De Dapper, M. |author3=Maló, S. |date=2014 |title=Flood analysis of the Limpopo River basin through past evolution reconstruction and a geomorphological approach |journal=Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |volume=14 |issue=8 |pages=2027–2039 |doi=10.5194/nhess-14-2027-2014 |bibcode=2014NHESS..14.2027S |doi-access=free|hdl=1854/LU-5684262 |hdl-access=free }} A general uplift of the land between Zimbabwe and the Kalahari Desert about 2 million years ago blocked this drainage route, and a large paleolake known as Lake Makgadikgadi formed between the Kalahari and the Batoka Basaltic Plateau of Zimbabwe and Zambia. This lake was originally endorheic and had no natural outlet. Under wetter climate conditions about 20,000 years BP, it eventually overflowed and began to drain to the east, cutting the Batoka Gorge through the basalt.{{Cite web |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92394/makgadikgadi-salt-pans |title=Makgadikgadi Salt Pans |date=2018 |website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |language=en |access-date=16 August 2018}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.botswana-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=1171 |title=Geological history – Botswana Travel Guide |website=www.botswana-travel-guide.com |access-date=15 August 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=A. |editor1-last=Viljoen |editor1-first=R. |editor2-last=Anhaeusser |editor2-first=C. |editor3-last=Viljoen |editor3-first=M. |title=The Victoria Falls and gorges, in Africa's Top Geological Sites |date=2016 |publisher=Struik Nature |location=Cape Town |isbn=978-1-77584-448-8 |pages=16–20}}

The recent geological history of Victoria Falls can be seen in the overall form of the Batoka Gorge, with its six individual gorges and eight past positions of the falls. The east–west oriented gorges imply structural control with alignment along joints of shatter zones, or faults with {{convert|50|m}} of vertical displacement as is the case of the second and fifth gorges. Headward erosion along these structural lines of weakness would establish a new fall line and abandonment of the earlier line. North-south oriented joints control the south flowing sections of the river. One of these is the "Boiling Pot", which links the First Gorge with the Second Gorge.{{rp|147, 149}}

The falls may have already started cutting back the next major gorge, at the dip in one side of the "Devil's Cataract", between the western river bank and Cataract Island. The lip in the current falls is lowest here and carries the greatest concentration of water at flood stage.{{rp|149}}

The sedimentary sequence overlying the basalt at the Zambezi River margins is called the Victoria Falls Formation, which consists of gravel, the Pipe sandstone, Kalahari sand, aeolian sand and alluvium. A 15–45 m scarp bounds the river about 5–6 km from the main channel, and a series of river terraces are evident between the scarp and the channel.{{rp|144–145}}

File:Satellite view of Victoria Falls.jpg

The basalt plateau of Victoria Falls, over which the Zambezi River flows, was formed during the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago.

Early Stone Age Acheulean stone artefacts and Oldowan tools were excavated at archaeological sites around the falls, as well as Sangoan tools and Lupemban artefacts dating to the Middle Stone Age.{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=J. D. |year=1950 |title=The Stone Age cultures of Northern Rhodesia, with particular Reference to the Cultural and Climatic Succession in the Upper Zambezi Valley and its Tributaries |location=Cape Town |publisher=South African Archaeological Society |pages=31–131 |chapter=Archaeology |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.56583/2015.56583.Stone-Age-Cultures-Of-Northern-Rhodesia#page/n79/mode/2up}}

Early Iron Age pottery was excavated at a vlei site near Masuma Dam in the early 1960s.{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=K. R. |year=1966 |title=The Iron Age site in Kapula Vlei, near the Masuma Dam, Wankie Game Reserve, Rhodesia |journal=Arnoldia, Rhodesia |issue=239 |pages=1–7}} Evidence for iron smelting was also found in a settlement dating to the late first millennium AD.{{cite journal |last1=Vogel |first1=J. O. |year=1975 |title=Kabondo Kumbo and the Early Iron Age in Victoria Falls region |journal=_Journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=49–75 |doi=10.1080/00672707509511613}}

The southern Tonga people known as the Batoka/Tokalea called the falls Shungu na mutitima. The Matabele, later arrivals, named them aManz' aThunqayo, and the Batswana and Makololo (whose language is used by the Lozi people) call them Mosi-o-Tunya. All these names mean essentially "the smoke that thunders".[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V1N4/V1N4.htm The Northern Rhodesia Journal online]: "Native Name of Victoria Falls", Vol I No 6 p. 68 (1952). Accessed 28 February 2007.

A map drawn by Nicolas de Fer in 1715 shows the fall clearly marked in the correct position. It also shows dotted lines denoting trade routes that David Livingstone followed 140 years later.{{Cite web |title=The History and Discovery of Victoria Falls |url=http://zambiahcabuja.org.ng/index.php/history-of-zambia/the-history-and-discovery-of-victoria-falls/ |language=en-US |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=3 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203060835/http://zambiahcabuja.org.ng/index.php/history-of-zambia/the-history-and-discovery-of-victoria-falls/ }} A map from c. 1750 drawn by Jacques Nicolas Bellin for Abbé Antoine François Prevost d'Exiles marks the falls as "cataractes" and notes a settlement to the north of the Zambezi as being friendly with the Portuguese at the time.{{Cite web |title=The History and Discovery of Victoria Falls – Zambia Tourism |url=https://www.zambiatourism.com/about-zambia/history/the-history-and-discovery-of-victoria-falls/ |website=www.zambiatourism.com |access-date=24 May 2020}}

In November 1855, David Livingstone was the first European who saw the falls, when he traveled from the upper Zambezi to the mouth of the river between 1852 and 1856. The falls were well known to local tribes, and Voortrekker hunters may have known of them, as may the Arabs under a name equivalent to "the end of the world". Europeans were sceptical of their reports, perhaps thinking that the lack of mountains and valleys on the plateau made a large fall unlikely.[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V1N4/V1N4.htm The Northern Rhodesia Journal online]: "Native Name of Victoria Falls", Vol I No 4 pp. 80–82 (1951). Accessed 28 February 2007.[http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=816081722&searchurl=sts%3Dt%26tn%3Dagter%2Bdie%2Bmagalies%26x%3D0%26y%3D0 Agter die Magalies]: "Agter Die Magalies" B.K. de Beer, pp. 43–44 (1975) Postma Publications. Accessed 1 September 2007.

Livingstone had been told about the falls before he reached them from upriver and was paddled across to the Livingstone Island in Zambia.

In 1860, Livingstone returned to the area and made a detailed study of the falls with John Kirk. Other early European visitors included Portuguese explorer Serpa Pinto, Czech explorer Emil Holub, who made the first detailed plan of the falls and its surroundings in 1875 (published in 1880),[http://www.radio.cz/en/article/70921 The international service of Czech Radio online:] "Statue of explorer Emil Holub unveiled in Livingstone, Zambia" accessed 28 February 2007. and British artist Thomas Baines, who executed some of the earliest paintings of the falls. Until the area was opened up by the building of the railway in 1905, though, the falls were seldom visited by other Europeans. Some writers believe that the Portuguese priest Gonçalo da Silveira was the first European to catch sight of the falls back in the sixteenth century.Walker, E. A. 1963. The Cambridge History of the British Empire, volume 2. CUP Archive. Retrieved 4 October 2015.Green, L. G. 1956 There's a Secret Hid Away. H. Timmins, 244 p. {{ISBN|9780869782071}}. Retrieved 4 October 2015

File:Victoria Falls gorge1.jpg basalt flows. The breaks in slope with vegetation are brecciated amygdaloidal basalt zones separating six successive and massive lava flows with distinct vertical jointing.{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=A. |last2=Cotterill |first2=F. |editor1-last=Migon |editor1-first=P. |title=Vicotria Falls: Mosi-oa-Tunya – The Smoke That Thunders, in Geomorphological Landscapes of the World |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-90-481-3054-2 |page=147,149 |chapter=15}}{{rp|391}}]]

European settlement of the Victoria Falls area started around 1900 in response to the desire of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company for mineral rights and imperial rule north of the Zambezi, and the exploitation of other natural resources such as timber forests north-east of the falls, and ivory and animal skins. Before 1905, the river was crossed above the falls at the Old Drift, by dugout canoe or a barge towed across with a steel cable.{{cite journal |last=Hunt |first=B. L. |date=1959 |title=Kalomo to Livingstone in 1907 |url=http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V4N1/V4N1.html |journal=The Northern Rhodesia Journal |volume=IV |issue=1 |page=16 |quote=Mr Moss and Mrs Orchard and the eight Lozi paddlers managed to swim to the island, one of the paddlers saving the Orchards' year-old baby}} Rhodes' vision of a Cape-Cairo railway drove plans for the first bridge across the Zambezi. He insisted it be built where the spray from the falls would fall on passing trains, so the site at the Second Gorge was chosen. (See the main article Victoria Falls Bridge for details.) From 1905 the railway offered accessible travel from as far as the Cape in the south and from 1909, as far as the Belgian Congo in the north. In 1904 the Victoria Falls Hotel was opened to accommodate visitors arriving on the new railway. The falls became an increasingly popular attraction during British colonial rule of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), with the town of Victoria Falls becoming the main tourist centre.

In 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the independent state of Zambia. The following year, Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence. This was not recognised by Zambia, the United Kingdom nor the vast majority of states and led to United Nations-mandated sanctions. In response to the emerging crisis, in 1966 Zambia restricted or stopped border crossings. It did not re-open the border completely until 1980. The Rhodesian Bush War erupted on the southern side of the Zambezi from 1972 to 1980 with terrorist incursions from Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana. Visitor numbers began to drop, particularly on the Rhodesian side. Periodic Rhodesian military cross-border operations against guerrilla camps in Zambia, caused the Zambians to impose security measures including the stationing of soldiers to restrict access to the gorges and some parts of the falls.

Zimbabwe's internationally recognized independence in 1980 brought comparative peace, and the 1980s witnessed renewed levels of tourism and the development of the region as a centre for adventure sports. Activities that gained popularity in the area include whitewater rafting in the gorges, bungee jumping from the bridge, game fishing, horse riding, kayaking, e-biking, and sightseeing flights over the falls.[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080510070551/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/mosi-oa-.html United Nations Environment Programme: Protected Areas and World Heritage World Conservation Monitoring Centre]. Website accessed 1 March 2007.

{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2020}}

File:VicFallsSwim.jpg

By the end of the 1990s, almost 400,000 people were visiting the falls annually, and this was expected to rise to over a million in the next decade. Unlike the game parks, Victoria Falls has more Zimbabwean and Zambian visitors than international tourists; the attraction is accessible by bus and train, and is therefore comparatively inexpensive to reach.

The numbers of visitors to the Zimbabwean side of the falls has historically been much higher than the number visiting the Zambian side, due to the greater development of the visitor facilities there. However, the number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe began to decline in the early 2000s as political tensions between supporters and opponents of president Robert Mugabe increased. In 2006, hotel occupancy on the Zimbabwean side hovered at around 30%, while the Zambian side was near capacity, with rates in top hotels reaching US$630 per night."[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116734273561861856 At African Waterfall, Visitors Confront A Tale of Two Cities]." Trofimov, Y. The Wall Street Journal. 29 December 2006.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/21/world/victoria-falls-journal-the-best-of-times-and-the-worst-for-two-tourist-towns.html |title=Victoria Falls Journal; The Best of Times, and the Worst, for Two Tourist Towns |first=M. |last=Wines |date=2004 |work=The New York Times}} The rapid development has prompted the United Nations to consider revoking the falls' status as a World Heritage Site.{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/victoria-falls-at-risk-un-warns-431122.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/victoria-falls-at-risk-un-warns-431122.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Victoria Falls 'at risk', UN warns |date=7 January 2007 |work=The Independent}} In addition, problems of waste disposal and a lack of effective management of the falls' environment are a concern.

{{anchor|Devil's Pool}}A famous feature is the naturally formed "Devil's Pool", an infinity pool that sits on the lip of Victoria Falls, on the Zambian side, along the western tip of Livingstone Island.{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Devils Pool Victoria Falls: Everything You Need To Know. |url=https://bantutraveler.com/the-devils-pool/ |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=The Bantu Traveler}} When the river flow is at a certain level, usually between September and December, a rock barrier forms an eddy with minimal current, allowing adventurous swimmers to splash around in relative safety in front of the point where the water cascades over the falls.{{Cite web |title=Devils Pool Victoria Falls and Livingstone Island Tour |url=https://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/devils-pool.html |access-date=4 January 2021 |website=www.victoriafalls-guide.net}}

File:White rhino Livingstone.jpgs at Mosi-oa-Tunya national park in May 2005. They are not indigenous, but were imported from South Africa.]]

The two national parks at the falls are relatively small– Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park is {{cvt|66|km2}}National Parks and Nature Reserves of Zambia, [http://www.nationalparks-worldwide.info/zambia.htm World Institute for Conservation and Environment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111005416/http://www.nationalparks-worldwide.info/zambia.htm |date=2013}}. and Victoria Falls National Park is {{cvt|23|km2}}. However, next to the latter on the southern bank is the Zambezi National Park, extending {{cvt|40|km}} west along the river. Animals can move between the two Zimbabwean parks and can also reach Matetsi Safari Area, Kazuma Pan National Park and Hwange National Park to the south.

On the Zambian side, fences and the outskirts of Livingstone tend to confine most animals to the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. In addition fences put up by lodges in response to crime restrict animal movement.[http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2002/2002-03-05-01.asp S Hanyona: "Zambia's Ecotourism Venture Butted by Ecotroubles."] 5 March 2002. ENS website accessed 9 March 2007.

On Botswana’s side of the border, Chobe National Park is a short distance to travel to and is a popular location for a day trip for many tourists visiting Victoria Falls for extended stays. It offers more diverse flora and fauna than Hwange National Park.{{Cite web |title=About Chobe National Park |url=https://www.chobegamelodge.com/about-chobe-park/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=Chobe Game Lodge |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002012150/https://www.chobegamelodge.com/about-chobe-park/ |url-status=dead}}

In 2004 a separate group of police called the Tourism Police was started. They are commonly seen around the main tourist areas, and can be identified by their uniforms with yellow reflective bibs.http://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/victoria-falls-tourism-police-december-2011.html. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510030121/http://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/victoria-falls-tourism-police-december-2011.html |date=10 May 2012 }}

Riverine forest with palm trees lines the banks and islands above the falls. The most notable aspect of the area's vegetation though is the rainforest nurtured by the spray from the falls, containing plants rare for the area such as pod mahogany, ebony, ivory palm, wild date palm, batoko plum{{cite web |title=Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, October 2017 |url=https://independent-travellers.com/zimbabwe/victoria_falls/ |website=Independent Travellers |publisher=independent-travellers.com |access-date=7 April 2018}} and creepers and lianas. Outside the riparian zone, mopane woodland savannah predominates in the area, with smaller areas of miombo and Rhodesian teak woodland and shrubland savannah. Vegetation has suffered in recent droughts, and so have the animals that depend on it, particularly antelope.

The national parks contain abundant wildlife including sizeable populations of elephant, Cape buffalo, giraffe, Grant's zebra, and a variety of antelope. Lions, African leopards and South African cheetahs are only occasionally seen. Vervet monkeys and baboons are common. The river above the falls contains large populations of hippopotamus and crocodile. African bush elephants cross the river in the dry season at particular crossing points.

Klipspringers, honey badgers, lizards and clawless otters can be glimpsed in the gorges, but they are mainly known for 35 species of raptors. The Taita falcon, Verreaux's eagle, peregrine falcon and augur buzzard breed there. Above the falls, herons, African fish eagles and numerous kinds of waterfowl are common.

The river is home to 39 species of fish below the falls and 84 species above it. This illustrates the effectiveness of the falls as a dividing barrier between the upper and lower Zambezi.

In February 2020, National Geographic highlighted the threat to the falls from extreme weather conditions.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/victoria-falls/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108094017/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/victoria-falls/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 January 2017 |title=Extreme weather threatens one of Earth's most awe-inspiring waterfalls |date=18 February 2020 |website=Travel. |access-date=22 February 2020}} Rising temperatures make the region hotter and drier. There is substantial water flow variability from year to year, with a significant drop in the general trend of water flow in September, October, November and December.{{cite journal |last1=Dube |first1=Kaitano |last2=Nhamo |first2=Godwell |title=Climate variability, change and potential impacts on tourism: Evidence from the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls |journal=Environmental Science & Policy |date=2018 |volume=84 |pages=113–123 |doi=10.1016/j.envsci.2018.03.009 |bibcode=2018ESPol..84..113D |s2cid=158257075}} This is particularly pronounced in drought years, which are becoming more frequent and intense.{{cite journal |last1=Dube |first1=K. |last2=Nhamo |first2=G. |title=Climate change and potential impacts on tourism: evidence from the Zimbabwean side of the Victoria Falls |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |date=2019 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=2025–2041 |doi=10.1007/s10668-018-0118-y |bibcode=2019EDSus..21.2025D |s2cid=158211459}} Such occurrences have affected the aesthetics of the waterfalls,{{cite journal |last1=Dube |first1=K. |last2=Nhamo |first2=G. |title=Tourist perceptions and attitudes regarding the impacts of climate change on Victoria Falls |journal=Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series |date=2020 |volume=47 |issue=47 |pages=27–44 |doi=10.2478/bog-2020-0002 |s2cid=214764894 |doi-access=free}} and there are fears that Victoria Falls might join other World Heritage sites categorised as last-chance destinations.

Recognition of the risks to the falls has sparked great debate among those in the tourism industry in both Zambia and Zimbabwe.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-50549711 |title=Could Victoria Falls dry up? |date=25 November 2019 |website=News |language=en}} Many experts in the region dismiss the story as ill-researched and irresponsible journalism. They do not deny climate change and the impact it is having on the amount of water that cascades over the falls, but they argue the narrative is incomplete.{{Cite web |url=https://tamukatravel.co.zw/victoria-falls-in-2020-heres-proof-it-is-not-drying-up/ |title=Victoria Falls in 2020? Here's Proof It is Not Drying Up |date=18 February 2020 |website=Travel |access-date=22 February 2020}}

{{stack|{{Portal|Africa}}}}

• List of waterfalls by flow rate
• Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station
• 2018–19 Southern Africa drought

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{{Wikisource|The Victoria Falls}}

• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Victoria Falls | volume= 28 |last= Cana |first= Frank Richardson |pages=44–45 |short=1}}
• {{cite web |work=UNEP-WCMC |title=Mosi-oa-Tunya |url=http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/mosi-oa-.html |access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-date=10 May 2008 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080510070551/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/mosi-oa-.html }}
• {{cite web |work=NASA Earth Observatory |title=Victoria Falls, Zambezi River |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16309 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030927143315/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16309 |archive-date=27 September 2003}}
• {{cite web |work=UNESCO World Heritage |title=Victoria Falls |url=https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=509}}

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Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Block waterfalls

Category:Canyons and gorges of Africa

Category:First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites

Category:Geography of Matabeleland North Province

Category:Geography of Southern Province, Zambia

Category:International waterfalls

Category:Livingstone, Zambia

Category:Tourist attractions in Matabeleland North Province

Category:Tourist attractions in Southern Province, Zambia

Category:Tourist attractions in Zambia

Category:Tourist attractions in Zimbabwe

Category:Waterfalls of Zambia

Category:Waterfalls of Zimbabwe

Category:World Heritage Sites in Zambia

Category:World Heritage Sites in Zimbabwe

Category:Zambezi River

Category:Zambia–Zimbabwe border