Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

. It was created in 1991 and covers an area of .

Geography

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the Virunga Mountains and encompasses three inactive volcanoes, namely Mount Muhabura,

Mount Gahinga Mount Gahinga is a dormant/extinct volcano in the Virunga Mountains on the border between Rwanda and Uganda. Gahinga lies between Muhabura and Sabyinyo, but is the smallest of these three. Mount Gahinga, also known in the local Kinyarwanda/Rufum ...

, and Mount Sabyinyo. In altitude the national park ranges from and is part of the

Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

watershed area. It is contiguous with Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park and the southern sector of Virunga National Park in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The park is about by road south of the town of

Kisoro Kisoro is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the chief town of Kisoro District and the site of the district headquarters. Location Kisoro is approximately , by road, west of Kabale, the largest city in the Kigezi sub-region. This is ...

and approximately by road west of

Kabale Kabale is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the chief town of Kabale District, and the district headquarters are located there. Sometimes nicknamed “Kastone” as in the local language Rukiga, a “kabale” is a small stone. Lo ...

, the largest city in the sub-region.

Climate

The area experiences two wet rainy seasons: February to May; and September to December. The average monthly rainfall varies from in October to in July.

Biodiversity

The national park encompasses

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

forest,

Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to distinct Afromontane forests with high biodiversity. G ...

, Ruwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands with tree heath, and an alpine zone at higher altitudes.

Wildlife

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

s present in the national park include

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018. There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Centra ...

(''Gorilla beringei beringei'') and

golden monkey The golden monkey (''Cercopithecus kandti'') is a species of Old World monkey found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Viru ...

(''Cercopithecus kandti''). The iconic mountain gorillas (around 30 individuals split between one habituated and two unhabituated groups) and the charismatic golden monkey ( an Albertine Rift Endemic whose range is now restricted to the Virungas and one other forest in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

). The checklist of 76 mammal species includes

black-and-white colobus Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

, giant forest hog,

bushpig :''"Bush pig" may also refer to the red river hog. The bushpig (''Potamochoerus larvatus'') is a member of the pig family that inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa. Probably introduce ...

, buffalo,

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ran ...

, black-fronted duiker, and several varieties of

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...

and small predators. Of the Albertine Rift's endemic birds, the following were recorded in the national park during surveys in 2004:

handsome spurfowl The handsome spurfowl (''Pternistis nobilis'') is a species of bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is a large, up to 35 cm long, terrestrial forest bird with a dark reddish brown plumage, grey head, red bill and legs, brown iris, bar ...

, dusky crimson-wing, red-throated alethe,

Kivu ground thrush The Kivu ground thrush (''Geokichla piaggiae tanganicae'') is a bird subspecies native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat de ...

Rwenzori turaco The Rwenzori turaco (''Gallirex johnstoni'') is a bird in the family Musophagidae. It is native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. The Rwenzori turaco is a herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted ...

, Rwenzori batis,

Rwenzori double-collared sunbird The Rwenzori double-collared sunbird (''Cinnyris stuhlmanni''), also called Stuhlmann's sunbird or the Rwanda double-collared sunbird, is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in the Ruwenzori range of mountains in south ce ...

, collared apalis, mountain masked apalis,

Archer's ground robin Archer's ground robin (''Cossypha archeri'') or Archer's robin-chat, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Albertine Rift montane forests. The bird's common name commemorates the British explorer and colonial offici ...

, stripe-breasted tit, blue-headed sunbird,

regal sunbird The regal sunbird (''Cinnyris regius'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. Description The regal sunbird is a small species. The adult male has head and upper parts an iridescen ...

, strange weaver, montane nightjar,

red-faced woodland warbler The red-faced woodland warbler (''Phylloscopus laetus'') is a species of leaf warbler in the family Phylloscopidae. It forms a superspecies with the closely related yellow-throated woodland warbler and the Laura's woodland warbler. Two subspec ...

and

Grauer's swamp warbler Grauer's swamp warbler (''Bradypterus graueri'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater ...

Tourism

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is Uganda’s smallest national park, receiving one of the fewest annual visitor numbers of any national park in Uganda. Popular tourist activities include

tracking,

tracking, volcano hiking, nature walks including to the gorge platform, bird watching and meeting the Batwa community. Tourists visiting Mgahinga Gorilla National Park make a 9 hours drive from Kampala to reach the park. The park is also connected by daily domestic flights from Entebbe International Airport and on to Kihihi Airstrip, which land at

Kisoro Airport Kisoro Airport is an airport serving the town of Kisoro in Uganda and nearby Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. It is in extreme southwestern Uganda, north of the Rwanda border, and approximately by air south ...

History

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park was established in 1991 in an area that used to be a game reserve between the 1930s and 1950, but was partly converted to crop fields in lower altitudes. Biological surveys were initiated in 1989, wire traps destroyed, rangers trained and trees planted. Settlers were relocated to areas outside the national park's borders in the early 1990s. In November 2013, the

M23 Movement The March 23 Movement (french: Mouvement du 23 mars), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (''Armée révolutionnaire du Congo''), is a rebel military group that is for the most part formed of ethnic Tutsi. ...

, a Congolese rebel group, surrendered in the park after being defeated by the Congolese Army in the

M23 rebellion The M23 rebellion was an armed conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), that occurred between the March 23 Movement and government forces. The rebellion was part of continued fighting in the region after the formal end of ...

References

External links

* * {{Protected Areas of Uganda National parks of Uganda Kisoro District Virunga Mountains Forests of Uganda Important Bird Areas of Uganda Protected areas established in 1991 1991 establishments in Uganda Albertine Rift montane forests