Wildlife in Rwenzori Mountains national park

Wildlife in Rwenzori Mountains national park: Rwenzori Mountains national park is one of the ten national parks found in Uganda. Rwenzori Mountains national park is located in the western part of Uganda in Kasese, Kabarole, and Bundibugyo districts. The national has an area of 998 sq. km and expands to the borders of Uganda and DR Congo.

Rwenzori Mountains national park was gazetted in 1991 as a national park by Uganda Wildlife Authority a government agency managing and controlling activities in different national parks around the country. Rwenzori Mountains national park was gazetted to protect different wildlife species and attractions that were in the park at the time.

When the government was gazetting the park, all the local people had to be evicted from the park. This was because these people could hunt animals, burn vegetation, and also do farming on the farm. From the time Rwenzori Mountains national park was gazetted, so far 217 bird species, 70 mammals, and 5 primates have been recorded.

Wildlife in Rwenzori Mountains national park

Animals

Rwenzori Mountains national park is home to 70 mammals and 5 primates so far recorded. These animals live in different vegetation covers of the park where they have peace and get plenty of food. Guided nature walks and simple game drives around the national park will always give tourists an opportunity to see different park animals.

70 mammals have been recorded in Rwenzori Mountains national park and they include Elephant, leopard, bushbuck, giant forest hog, rocky hyrax, Rwenzori otter, black-fronted duiker, African civet, red duiker, chimpanzee, L’hoest’s monkey, Rwenzori climbing mouse, and giant forest hog to mention but a few.

The 5 primate species of Rwenzori Mountains national park include Angola colobus monkey, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, olive baboons, and red colobus among others. 6 amphibians and 9 reptiles have also been recorded in Rwenzori Mountains national park.

Bird species

There are about 217 bird species that have been recorded in Rwenzori Mountains national park. 17 of these bird species are endemic to the Albertine region and are not seen anywhere else in the country. Bird watching is one of the activities organized in Rwenzori Mountains national park to enable tourists to see the different bird species that have been recorded there.

Birds in Rwenzori mountains national park include Evergreen forest warbler, African scared ibis, lesser striped swallow, white-necked raven, African thrush, mountain illadopsis, African pied wagtail,hadada ibis, red-faced cisticola, western green tinkerbird, green white eye, stout cisticola, lemon dove, thick-billed seedeater, African black duck, cassin’s honeyguide, Rwenzori batis, handsome francolin, mountain buzzard, speckled pigeon, kivu ground thrush, brown snake eagle.

Rwenzori hill babbler, grey throated barbet, rock martin, white-browed coucal, speckled tinkerbird, African wood owl, Albertine boubou, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, stripe breasted tit, little swift, white-rumped swift, yellow fronted tinkerbird, laughing dove, golden-crowned woodpecker, village weaver, red knobbed coot, cassin’s hawk-eagle, dusky blue flycatcher, glossy ibis, Baglafecht weaver to mention but a few.

To see birds of Rwenzori Mountains national park, you will have to do bird watching. Bird watching is a guided activity that takes tourists around the park to see the different bird species recorded there. Different birding trails are used to increase on the number of bird species. A birder should come with their birding book, a voice recorder, a camera, and a pair of binoculars to see birds that are far away.

Best time to see the wildlife of Rwenzori Mountains national park

Animals

The best time to see animals of Rwenzori Mountains national park is the dry season. The dry season happens from June to September and December to February when the park is receiving some sunshine. During this period, the vegetation is short with clear views of animals, roads leading to the park are passable and the walking trails are dry allowing tourists to access most of the park areas.

Birds

The best time for bird watching in Rwenzori Mountains national park is from November to April. During this period, there are lots of birds within the park because of plenty of food and there are also migratory birds in the park from North Africa, Europe, and Asia. During this period tourists will be able to see permanent birds as well as migratory birds.

Getting to Rwenzori Mountains national park

Tourists from Kampala/Entebbe can access Rwenzori Mountains national park in a single day using road transport. From Kampala/Entebbe, tourists go through Mityana, Mubende, Kyenjojo, Fort Portal, and finally, Kasese where the park is located. It takes a single day to access Rwenzori Mountains national park but the journey comes with stopovers along the way.

Tourists who prefer using luxury means of transport can fly on their safari to Rwenzori Mountains national park. There is no airstrip in Rwenzori Mountains national park but tourists can fly to the nearby which is Kasese Airstrip. Airline companies like Bar Aviation Uganda and Aerolink Uganda can fly tourists to Kasese airstrip where they later drive to Rwenzori Mountains national park.