Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It 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 ...

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

Geography

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the

Virunga Mountains The Virunga Mountains (also known as Mufumbiro) are a chain of volcanoes in East Africa, in the area where Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Uganda meet. The mountain range is a branch of the Albertine Rift Mountains, ...

and encompasses three inactive volcanoes, namely

Mount Muhabura Mount Muhabura, also known as Mount Muhavura, is an inactive volcano in the Virunga Mountains on the Rwanda-Uganda border. At , Muhabura is the third highest of the eight major mountains of the mountain range, which is part of the Albertine Rift, ...

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

, and

Mount Sabyinyo Mount Sabyinyo ("Sabyinyo" is derived from the Kinyarwanda word "Iryinyo", meaning "tooth"; also "Sabyinyo, Sabyinio") is an extinct volcano in eastern Africa in the Virunga Mountains. Mount Sabyinyo is the oldest volcano of the range. It is nort ...

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

Nile River The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

watershed area. It is contiguous with Rwanda's

Volcanoes National Park Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga ...

and the southern sector of

Virunga National Park Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from in the Semliki River valley to in the Rwenzori Mountains. ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. 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 west of Kabale, the largest city in the Kigezi sub-region. This is approximat ...

and approximately by road west of

Kabale Kabale City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the main city of Kabale District, and the district headquarters are located at Makanga hills. It is sometimes nicknamed "Kastone" as in the local Rukiga language, a "kabale" is a sma ...

, 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 mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

forest,

Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests ( French: ''Forêts montagnardes du Rift Albertin'') 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 dis ...

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

Wildlife

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

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 . There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga Mountains, Virunga volcanic mountains of C ...

(''Gorilla beringei beringei'') with around 30 individuals split between one habituated and two unhabituated groups, and

golden monkey The golden monkey (''Cercopithecus mitis kandti'') is a subspecies of the blue monkey. It is an Old World monkey found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcan ...

(''Cercopithecus kandti''), an Albertine Rift Endemic whose range is now restricted to the Virungas and one other forest in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. 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 cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), also known as the African savanna elephant, is a species of elephant native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of three extant elephant species and, along with the African forest elephant, one ...

giant forest hog The giant forest hog (''Hylochoerus meinertzhageni''), the only member of its genus (''Hylochoerus''), is native to wooded habitats in Africa and is one of the largest wild members of the pig family, Suidae, along with a few subspecies of the wi ...

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 introd ...

, buffalo,

Cape bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus''), also known as imbabala is a common, medium-sized bushland-dwelling, and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa. It is found in a wide range of habitats, such as rain forests, montane ...

black-fronted duiker The black-fronted duiker (''Cephalophus nigrifrons'') is a small antelope found in central and west-central Africa. Description The black-fronted duiker is a compact, short-necked, and active antelope that gets its name from the broad black stre ...

, and several varieties of

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

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). 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 birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s 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, b ...

, dusky crimson-wing, red-throated alethe, Kivu ground thrush,

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 evolve ...

, Rwenzori batis, Rwenzori double-collared sunbird, collared apalis, mountain masked apalis, Archer's ground robin, stripe-breasted tit, blue-headed sunbird, regal sunbird, strange weaver, montane nightjar, red-faced woodland warbler and

Grauer's swamp warbler Grauer's swamp warbler (''Bradypterus graueri'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is threatened ...

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 sout ...

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 (), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (), is a Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group. Based in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it operates ...

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

M23 rebellion M23 rebellion or M23 campaign may refer to: * M23 rebellion (2012–2013), an armed conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo * M23 campaign (2022–present), an offensive in North Kivu against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Re ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 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