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Kibale National Park |
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The most accessible of Uganda's major rainforests, Kibale is
home to a remarkable 13 primate species, including the very
localised red colobus and L'Hoest's monkey. Kibale's major
attraction however is the opportunity to track habituated
chimps - these delightful apes, more closely related to humans
than any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as
they squabble and play in fruiting trees.
Kibale Forest offers
the best primate viewing in East Africa, but it is not
otherwise an easy place to see large mammals- this despite an
impressive checklist which includes leopard, elephant,
buffalo, hippo, warthog, giant forest hog, bushbuck and
Peter's red and blue duikers. The elusive forest elephant,
smaller and hairier than its savannah counterpart, moves
seasonally into the developed part of the park. |
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At present there are 3 habituated chimp groups in Kibale and due
to the fact that they are tracked on a daily basis by both
researchers and park guides, the movements of the groups are very
well known, ensuring a high success rate for visitors to see the
Chimps in their natural habitat. However they are constantly
moving, so you cannot predict what length of walk is required to
reach one particular group. It can vary from 15 minutes to 2
hours; the longer walks do require a certain degree of fitness as
it is humid within the forest and there are some gentle gradients
to climb within the park.
First gazetted in October 1993, the 766km national park extends
southwards from Fort Portal to form a contiguous block with the
Queen Elizabeth National Park. The forested section (77%) of the
park is covered by medium altitude moist evergreen forest in the
north and medium altitude moist semi-deciduous forest at lower
altitudes in the south. The remaining 23% consists of grassland,
swamps and some plantations with exotic conifers.
A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight primate
lovers, botanists and butterfly enthusiasts, while birders are in
for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic
Prirogrine's ground thrush.
Many of the facilities are community based, thus providing the
local community with the necessary revenue to keep their interest
focused on the long-term protection of the area. The area is
mainly occupied by two tribes; the Batooro and Bakiga,
traditionally both tribes utilised the forest for food, fuel,
building materials and medicines. |
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