Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale National Park is located in western Uganda and protects the wet evergreen rainforest. It covers an area of 766 square kilometers and though it is primarily composed of wet evergreen forests, it includes a diverse range of landscapes. Kibale is one of the last remaining areas of lowland and montane forest. It is also home to the last significant Premontane Forest in East Africa. The park was established officially in 1993 to protect a vast area of forest that had previously been managed as a logged forest reserve. The park forms a continuous forest with the Queen Elizabeth National Park, so the coexistence of the parks creates a 180 kilometers long wildlife corridor. The park is a major ecotourism and safari destination, famous for its population of chimpanzees and twelve other primate species. It is also home to the Makerere University Biological Field Station. The Kibale National Park is home to 13 primate species. It protects several chimpanzee communities and also protects a number of Central African monkey species, including the Ugandan Mangabey, Ugandan Red Colobus and L'Hoest's Monkey. The other primates in the park include the Black and White Colobus and the Blue Monkey. The park's elephant population travels between the park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park's predators contain leopards, African Golden Cats, servals, various mongooses and two species of otter. Lions also occasionally visit the park. The birdlife is also rich, the park has 325 bird species, including the Ground Thrush, which is endemic to Kibale National Park.