The park has been around since 1964 and there is plentiful of wildlife despite the backdrop of skyscrapers and the roar of jets coming into land (being close to Kenyatta Airport). You stand a good chance of seeing gazelles, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, ostriches, buffaloes, lions, cheetahs and leopards. The landscape is a mixture of savanna and swampland and is home to the highest concentration of black rhinos in the world (over 50). The wetland areas support more than 550 recorded species of bird, attracting many bird-watchers.

The elephant is the only one of the 'big five' not found here, but leopard, lion, buffalo, rhino, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, antelope, wildebeest, eland, zebra and Thompson's gazelle as well as many other species are here in abundance.

Nairobi National Park is not fenced and wildlife is still able (for the time being) to migrate along a narrow wildlife corridor to the Rift Valley. Concentrations are higher in the dry season as animals migrate into the park where water is almost always available.