Mammals in Kidepo valley national park

Mammals in Kidepo valley national park: Kidepo valley national park mammals are some of the reasons as to why this hidden national park receives a great number of tourists year after year. It’s also because of the mammals that the park is widely known and has been nominated several times in different awards as one of the best places to visit in Africa.

Mammals in Kidepo valley national park

Kidepo valley national park is one of the savannah national parks in Uganda. The national park is located in Kaabong district in the northeastern part of the country near Kenya and South Sudan borders. It was gazetted in 1962 by the government of Uganda to protect a lot of wildlife among which included mammals.
The 1442 sq. km piece of land in the Karamajong area is home to over 76 mammals. These have been so far recorded and living in the savannah grassland, swamps, and ac acacia trees. The mammals of Kidepo national park have a wide piece of land to graze from as the park area extends to areas of South Sudan and Kenya.
Over 76 mammals are said to be living in Kidepo national park and it’s said that about 20 mammals are endemic to the park which means they can only be seen here. These mammals include cheetahs, dik-dik, aardwolf, African wild dogs, and ostriches among others.

Which mammals are found in Kidepo valley national park?

The mammals found in Kidepo valley national park include lions, crocodiles, warthogs, elands, Uganda kobs, reedbucks, bright’s gazelles, defassa waterbucks, caracal, hartebeests, dik-dik, cape buffaloes, klipspringer, giraffes, striped hyenas, zebras, elephants, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, leopards, roan antelope, oribis, aardwolf, side stripped jackals, lesser kudu, and greater kudu among others.
Kidepo valley national park has over 20 wildlife species that are not seen anywhere in the country but this national park. Among the rare mammals include the cheetahs, lesser kudu, greater kudu, reedbucks, bright’s gazelles, aardwolf, klipspringer, and the African wild dog among others are found in Kidepo.

Best way to see the mammals of Kidepo valley national park

To be able to encounter the above-mentioned mammals of Kidepo valley national park, and other wildlife species, tourists need to take part in different activities that are organized within the park. The different activities of Kidepo national park that will allow you to encounter mammals include.
Game drive activities
There are day and night game drive activities in Kidepo national park for tourists to see as much wildlife as they can. The night game drives are usually done by tourists who want to see nocturnal animals active in the night. The day game drives are conducted in the morning and evening hours to see animals that are active during the day.
Mammals of this park are seen in the Narus valley and Kidepo valley where most game drive activities do take place. Game drives are a 2 to 3 hours activity and tourists use safari vehicles to reach most of the park areas where mammals tend to concentrate. During the day game drives, armed ranger guides are not needed however during the night game drives it’s a must to use one.
The game drives will increase the tourist chances of seeing animals such as zebras, giraffes, lions, spotted hyenas, reedbucks, oribis, side-striped jackals, cape buffaloes, reedbucks, klipspringers, roan antelopes, leopards, defassa water bucks, bat-eared fox, elands and many others we mentioned above.
Nature walks
Nature walks are activities organized in Kidepo valley national park to allow tourists to get so close to nature. The nature walks land you to different tourist attractions among which include mammals. During your nature walks to different areas of the park you won’t fail to meet some of the mammals said to be living in the park. There are different nature walk trails within the park and ranger guides use each one based on what the tourists are interested in seeing.

Best time to visit Kidepo valley national park mammals

Looking at experiences by a number of tourists that have visited the national park before, Kidepo valley is best visited for game viewing during the dry seasons. The dry season falls in the months of December to February and June to September. This is when the park is experiencing little or no rainfall which means the game tracks are dry and it’s the same period that the vegetation is short and scattered with good views of the wildlife.
Apart from mammals, Kidepo national park harbors about 5 primates among which include patas monkeys, olive baboons, and blue monkeys among others. The national park is also a great destination for bird watching with over 476 bird species living in the vegetation covers of the park.
A lot can be seen in Kidepo national park therefore tourists who have always dreamt of visiting the park can make their dream come true at any time of the year. Different activities are organized in the park to see different attractions there and among these include game drives, nature walks, birding, hiking, and cultural visits among others.