Wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park

Wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park – Murchison falls National Park is Uganda’s largest national park covering a total area of 3,890 sq km. it is located in north-western Uganda in the districts of Nwoya, buliisa, Kiryandongo and Masindi. It is famously known for the Murchison Falls which are known to be the strongest waterfalls in the world because of the strength from the force of the river Nile water passing through a narrow gorge of about 7m wide.

Murchison falls National Park is one of the parks in Uganda with a high concentration of wild animals and birds. It is a natural habitat to about 76 mammal species including 4 of the “Big 5” that is the lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo. there is a good population of lions and leopards but they are occasionally seen because of their nature and you therefore need to go for early morning or evening game drives to increase your chances of spotting them. Other mammals in the park include the Jackson’s hartebeest, Roth’schild giraffes, Uganda kob, oribi, waterbuck, warthog and bushbucks among others.  There are a number of water bodies in the park which are homes to a variety of hippos and crocodiles and these are commonly seen along the river Nile while on a boat cruise.

Budongo forest and Kaniyo Pabidi are popular for chimps. There are hundgerds of chimps and other primates such as vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and olive baboons among others.

Over 440 species of birds have been recorded in Murchison falls national park. Some of these include the African jacana, spur-winged lapwing, Goliath heron, Grey crowned cranes, Abyssinian Ground hornbill and the rare shoebill stork among others.

The park has different types of vegetation; savannah plains, savannah woodlands, forest vegetation and wetlands and each of them at least has some animals or birds that live or are spotted there.

Game Drives in Murchison Falls National Park