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Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. 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 Muhabura, also known as Mount Muhavura, is an inactive volcano in the Virunga Mountains on the border between Rwanda and Uganda. At Muhabura is the third highest of the eight major mountains of the mountain range, which is a part of the Al ...
,
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/Ruf ...
, 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, , 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 rive ...
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 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, 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 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. Geo ...
, Ruwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands with tree heath, and an alpine zone at higher altitudes.


Wildlife

Primates present in the national park include mountain gorilla (''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 Vi ...
(''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, a ...
, elephant, giant forest hog, bushpig, 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 ra ...
, 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 nat ...
,
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 bi ...
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, bare ...
,
dusky crimson-wing The dusky crimsonwing (''Cryptospiza jacksoni'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 78,000 km2. It is found in the Albertine Rift montane forests. The binomial name co ...
,
red-throated alethe The red-throated alethe (''Chamaetylas poliophrys'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest Montane ecosystems ...
,
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. It is currently ...
,
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 cen ...
, collared apalis,
mountain masked apalis The mountain masked apalis (''Apalis personata''), also known as the black-faced apalis, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is native to the Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moi ...
,
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 officia ...
,
stripe-breasted tit The stripe-breasted tit (''Melaniparus fasciiventer'') is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest ...
,
blue-headed sunbird The blue-headed sunbird (''Cyanomitra alinae'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, E ...
, regal sunbird,
strange weaver The strange weaver (''Ploceus alienus'') is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in the Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. ...
, 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 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 mountain gorilla tracking,
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 Vi ...
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 southw ...
.


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, 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 ...
.


See also

*
List of birds of Uganda This is a list of the bird species recorded in Uganda. The avifauna of Uganda included a total of 1088 confirmed species as of February 2023. Of them, one is Endemism in birds, endemic, and three have been Introduced species, introduced by human ...


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