Wildlife in Mount Elgon national park

Wildlife in Mount Elgon national park is part of the attractions that tourists can see during their safari in the park. Mount Elgon national park is located in the eastern part of Uganda in Mbale district. Mount Elgon national park is found in two countries Uganda and Kenya where it covers a total of 1110 sq. km and 196 sq. km respectively.

Mount Elgon national park is home to different wildlife species which can be seen during different safari activities. The wildlife can be seen well during nature but also during activities like hiking, bird watching, and rock climbing among others.

The wildlife species that are found in different areas of the park include buffaloes, elephants, leopards, small antelopes, de brazza’s monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and blue monkeys to mention but a few. The different wildlife species within the park are some of the attractions tourists can enjoy to see while on the safari there.

What is the best way of seeing wildlife in Mount Elgon national park?

Nature walks

Since there are no game drives carried out in Mount Elgon national park, the best way tourists can see the different wildlife of Mount Elgon national park is by taking part in guided nature walk activities. Guided nature walk activities in Mount Elgon national park are carried out on foot and on different park areas. By visiting different corners of the park, tourists will be able to a lot of wildlife species.

Guided nature walks in Mount Elgon national park are done in the morning and afternoon hours for about 2 hours. Armed ranger guides brief the tourists about the activity and tell them the rules and regulations to follow. Later they lead them to the different areas of the park where they start to look for different attractions on foot.

During nature walks to particular areas of the park that is when tourists can see different park animals carrying out daily activities like resting, grazing, playing, and much more. Tourists have chances of seeing buffaloes, elephants, leopards, de brazza’s monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and blue monkeys to mention but a few.

Apart from nature walks, tourists can see different animals in the park while carrying out activities like hiking, rock climbing, and bird watching. As tourists are carrying out these activities, they have so many opportunities to come across some of the animals that are said to be living in the park.

Best time to see the wildlife of Mount Elgon national park

The dry season is when tourists see the different wildlife of Mountain Elgon national park clear. June to September and December to February is when the park has good weather conditions that are characterized by plenty of sunshine and little rainfall. When the rainfall is little, tourists easily move to different park areas and this increases the chances of seeing so many animals in the park.

The vegetation in the dry season is short and scattered giving tourists clear views of different wildlife that live in the park. Seeing animals in the dry season is also easy especially when the area is too dry and animals must look for areas near the water sources. It means that tourists will find animals drinking water at different water sources or feeding on the vegetation nearby.

Tourists, especially budget travelers can visit Mountain Elgon national park in the rainy season and still see different wildlife while carrying out different park activities. Tourists should know that there is too much rainfall from March to May and October to November which makes the vegetation tall giving unclear views of wildlife, walking trails are muddy and slippery and the roads leading to the park are muddy and slippery.

What other attractions are found in Mount Elgon national park?

Mountain Elgon

Mountain Elgon is one of the attractions in Mount Elgon national park. The national park is visited mostly by hikers from different parts of the world. The mountain is the second tallest in Uganda with the highest point at 4321 meters at Wagagai peak. Hiking Mount Elgon national park is a 4 to 5 guided activity for hikers who want to reach the summit.

Hiking is led by armed ranger guides who guide the hikers all the way to the summit of the mountain. During hiking, the hikers get to meet different animals, birds, vegetation, water sources, and the largest caldera lake for those who reach the summit. Hikers also get to see the different attractions surrounding the mountain.

Birds

Mount Elgon national park is a home to over 300 bird species among which include African penduline tit, red fronted parrot, black cuckoo, tropical boubou, western crested guineafowl, augur buzzard, white-headed wood hoopoe, black-throated apalis, black-tailed oriole, crowned hornbill, speckled mousebird, grey crowned crane, mountain buzzard, double toothed barbet, grey-throated barbet, Nyanza swift, red chested owlet, tambourine dove, hadada ibis.

African dusky flycatcher, variable sunbird, northern yellow white eye, brimstone canary, red-winged starling, white-browed robin chat, Eurasian blackcap, Abyssinian thrush, spotted flycatcher, grey apalis, brown woodland warbler, mountain yellow warbler, buff throated apalis, Angola swallow, African black-headed oriole, chubb’s cisticola, red-eyed dove, green-backed camaroptera, and western house martin to mention but a few.