Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. 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 ...

, Mount Gahinga, 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 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 N ...

and the southern sector of

Virunga National Park , iucn_category = II , iucn_ref = , location = Democratic Republic of the Congo , map = Democratic Republic of the Congo , relief = 1 , coordinates = , area = , established = , nearest_city = Goma , photo =Virunga National Park-107997 ...

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, bu ...

forest, Albertine Rift montane forests, Ruwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands with

tree heath ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an or ...

, 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 including ...

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 Centr ...

(''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, leopard,

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 Elephantidae ...

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 generally considered the largest wild member of the pig family, Suidae; however, a few subspecie ...

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 ra ...

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 rodents,

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, 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, 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 adapted ...

Rwenzori batis The Rwenzori batis (''Batis diops'') is an endemic bird native to the Albertine Rift montane forests, where it inhabits altitudes of . Description The Rwenzori batis is a small, active black and white Old World flycatcher. The upperparts are d ...

, Rwenzori double-collared sunbird, collared apalis, mountain masked apalis, Archer's ground robin,

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, 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 The montane nightjar (''Caprimulgus poliocephalus''), mountain nightjar or Abyssinian nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is native to upland regions of Central and Eastern Africa where it is a locally common speci ...

, red-faced woodland warbler and Grauer's swamp warbler.

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 sou ...

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 ...

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