About This Park
Sidi Toui National Park is a national park in southern Tunisia. The park opened in 1991. It lies about fifty kilometers south of Ben Gardane. It is about twenty kilometers northwest of the Tunisian-Libyan border. The park extends over 6,315 hectares. A fence entirely encloses it. The park sits on the edge of the Sahara. Its characteristic landscape includes a djebel culminating at 172 meters, steppes, and sand dunes. White sagebrush and other species make up its vegetation.
Sidi Toui National Park, oryx, fennec, and migratory birds
Several Saharan species live in the park. Mammals include the oryx, golden jackal, starving fox, gloved cat, and fennec fox. Reptiles include whiptail, common chameleon, and snakes. Some migratory birds stop there from the Kneiss Islands. Others are sedentary and stay year-round. These include the houbara bustard, gambra partridge, sandgrouse, skylark, common raven, and isabelle courser.
In the past, the park frequented the African ostrich and red hartebeest. The latter survived between Dehiba and Hamada al-Hamra in Libya until 1912. Today, both taxa are extinct in Tunisia. However, a reintroduction project for the red-necked ostrich exists. This project operates in Dghoumès and Bouhedma national parks. It uses individuals brought back from Morocco. The North African hartebeest subspecies (Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus) disappeared completely at the beginning of the 20th century. Intensive hunting caused its extinction. Proposals for reintroducing the closest subspecies, that of West Africa (Alcelaphus buselaphus major), have been made. However, no concrete action has taken place to date.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Sidi Toui National Park, opened in 1991 and covering 6,315 hectares, is Tunisia's only fully enclosed national park - surrounded by a perimeter fence that allows the safe reintroduction of endangered Saharan antelopes. It is located only 50 km south of Ben Gardane, just 20 km from the Libyan border.
The enclosed park hosts scimitar-horned oryx, jackals, and fennec foxes among its mammal species. The houbara bustard, a critically endangered bird of the arid zones, is also present. The fenced perimeter protects these species from hunting and disturbance.
Sidi Toui is located near the village of Sidi Toui in the Medenine governorate, about 50 km south of Ben Gardane. The access road requires a 4WD vehicle. Ben Gardane is reachable by louage from Medenine or from Djerba. Visits require coordination with the park administration.
The park occupies a flat steppe landscape of sand, gravel, and sparse desert vegetation typical of the pre-Saharan zone of southeastern Tunisia. The terrain is open with long sightlines, ideal for wildlife observation.
The decision to fully fence the park was taken to create a secure environment for reintroducing species that had been hunted to local extinction. The fence prevents poaching and allows the gradual rebuilding of Saharan wildlife populations in a protected gene pool.
Visits inside the park are possible with prior arrangement through the park administration in Medenine or Ben Gardane. Guided vehicle tours within the park are the standard way to observe the oryx and other wildlife in their enclosure.
