| Queen Elizabeth National Park | |
|---|---|
 Crater Lake | |
  Location of Queen Elizabeth National Park | |
| Location |  Uganda |
| Nearest city | Kasese |
| Coordinates | 00°08′14″S30°02′28″E / 0.13722°S 30.04111°E |
| Area | 1,978 km2 (764 sq mi) |
| Established | 1952 |
| Governing body | Ugandan Wildlife Authority |
Queen Elizabeth National Park is a national park in the Western Region of Uganda. [1]
Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) spans the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri. The park is approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) by road south-west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. [2] The city of Kasese lies to the northeast of the park, while the town of Rubirizi is to the southeast.[ citation needed ] The park adjoins Kyambura Game Reserve to the east, which itself adjoins the Kigezi Game Reserve (including the Maramagambo Forest) and thus the Kibale National Park to the northeast. The Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lies across the border to the west. Together, these protected places completely encircle Lake Edward. The Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda lies not far to the northwest. [3]
Confusingly, during the 1970s and 1980s, Western conservationists usually referred to the park as Rwenzori National Park. [4] [5] [6]
In 1921, a rinderpest epidemic and sleeping sickness among the indigenous inhabitants of the region, the pastoralist Basongora, caused great death and emigration from the region. The epidemic was believed to be caused by the colonial government under the guise of a livestock vaccination campaign. The game increased, and the British colonial government decided to evict the remaining people from perhaps 90% of their lands to create game reserves. Their homes were torched and their livestock slaughtered, causing them to flee across the border and seek refuge in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [7] [8] [9]
The park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park by combining the Lake George and Lake Edward Game Reserves. [7] It was renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, [10] and the last remaining communal grazing rights of the Songora herders were rescinded, causing thousands more to move across the border with their herds into the Virunga National Park, most only beginning to return after 1964 due to the strife caused by the Mulele rebellion there. [9]
In 2006 the Basongora were forced to flee across the border from the DRC, settling in the park to the north of Lake Edward with their livestock. Attacks by predators on their property, and lack of compensation when their animals are killed, caused them to leave out carcasses laced with poison out to solve the problem, killing off eleven lions in 2018, among numerous incidents. This caused those in the international tourism and conservation industry to refer to the situation as "national disaster". [8] [11] [12] Previously, poachers killed six elephants in the park in 2015, triggering both anger and frustration within the Ugandan conservation community. [13]
QENP occupies an estimated 1,978 square kilometres (764 sq mi). [14] The park is known for its abundant wildlife, including African elephant, African buffalo, Ugandan kob, hippopotamus, topi, waterbuck, warthog, [7] giant forest hog, Nile crocodile, leopard, spotted hyena, chimpanzee and lion. Overall, the park is home to 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species. [15] The area around Ishasha in Rukungiri District is famous for its tree-climbing lions, whose males often sport black manes. [16] In 2020, Uganda Wildlife Authority executive director Samuel John Mwandha stated that the wildlife in park has been increasing in the last five years. [17]
QENP, together with the adjacent Virunga National Park, was designated as a 'lion conservation unit' by the IUCN in 2006. [18] The area is also considered a potential lion stronghold in Central Africa, if poaching is curbed and prey species are allowed to recover. [19] The resident lion population (including hyenas and leopards) are actively monitored by the Uganda Carnivore Program and the Uganda Wildlife Authority through the use of radio collars and other conservation initiatives. [20]
The park is also famous for its volcanic features, including volcanic cones and deep craters, many with crater lakes, such as the Katwe craters, from which salt is extracted. [21] [22]
Services in the park include a telecenter run by Conservation Through Public Health. [23]
Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda’s most popular tourist destinations, annually receiving one of the highest number of visitors of any of the country's national parks. [24] Popular activities include chimp tracking in Kyambura Gorge, boat cruises, guided game drives including to view tree climbing lions in the Ishasha sector, night drives and nature walks. [25] Visitors can also go on a lion experience with the Uganda Carnivore Program, with proceeds going toward carnivore conservation. [26] Tourists visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park make a 7 hours 30 minutes drive from Kampala to reach the park. [27] The park is also connected by daily domestic flights from Entebbe International Airport, which land at Mweya Airstrip, Kihihi Airstrip and Kasese Airstrip. [28] Tourist accommodations at the park include a range of lodges and tented camps. [25]
QENP and the Queen Elizabeth Country Park in England are twinned in a project of "cultural exchange, mutual support and has its main emphasis on supporting Conservation through working closely with and empowering local communities". [29]
Lake Edward is one of the smaller African Great Lakes. It is located in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, with its northern shore a few kilometres south of the equator.
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 680 m (2,230 ft) in the Semliki River valley to 5,109 m (16,762 ft) in the Rwenzori Mountains. From north to south it extends approximately 300 km (190 mi), largely along the international borders with Uganda and Rwanda in the east. It covers an area of 8,090 km2 (3,120 sq mi).
Kasese District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its chief town and district headquarters, the town of Kasese.
Kasese is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the capital of Kasese District. Kasese is also the largest town in the Rwenzururu region. In 2020 it had an estimated population 115,400. It lies north of Lake George and east of Rwenzori Mountains.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park is a Ugandan national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Rwenzori Mountains. Almost 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi) in size, the park has Africa's third highest mountain peak and many waterfalls, lakes, and glaciers. The park is known for its beautiful plant life.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It was created in 1991 and covers an area of 33.9 km2 (13.1 sq mi).
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.
The wildlife of Uganda is composed of its flora and fauna. Uganda has a wide variety of different habitats, including mountains, hills, tropical rainforest, woodland, freshwater lakes, swamps and savanna with scattered clumps of trees. The country has a biodiverse flora and fauna reflecting this range of habitats and is known for its primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. There are ten national parks and thirteen wildlife reserves; some 345 species of mammal and 1020 species of bird have been recorded in the country.
Kyambura Game Reserve or Chambura Game Reserve, which includes the Kyambura Gorge, adjoins the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. It is home to a variety of wildlife. The area is an important water source for many animals and is surrounded by savanna, but is generally noted for its high concentration of primate life located in the gorge.
Damaliscus lunatus jimela is a subspecies of topi, and is usually just called a topi. It is a highly social and fast type of antelope found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa.
Kasese Airport is an airport in Uganda.
Ishasha border point is a border crossing station and customs post in the Kanungu District in the Western Region of Uganda. It is inset approximately 350 metres (1,150 ft) from the Ishasha River, which is the Uganda-Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) border locally, and is 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) from the town of Ishasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo, across the river in the DRC.
Mweya is a location in the Western Region of Uganda.
Mweya Airport is a small civilian airport in Uganda. It is one of the 46 airports in the country.
Mpanga is a location on River Mpanga in Kitagwenda county, Kitagwenda District in Western Uganda.
Rukungiri–Kihihi–Ishasha–Kanungu Road is a road in southwestern Uganda, connecting the town of Rukungiri in Rukungiri District and the town of Ishasha in Kanungu District, at the International border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A spur of the road runs south from Kihihi to Kanungu.
Kitagwenda District is a district in Western Uganda. The district is named after Kitagwenda County, which is coterminous with the district.
Rwengiri Central Forest Reserve is a protected tropical forest that is located in Rukungiri district in Western Uganda. It covers an area of 155 km2. It managed by the National Forestry Authority. Its WPDA ID is 40357. It was designated a reserve in 1968.
Kasyoha-Kitomi Central Forest Reserve is located in Western Uganda, and has an area of 433-square-kilometre (107,000-acre). It is located south of Lake George and the Kazinga channel in the Albertine Rift eco-region, which is known for its abundance of endemic species. The forest reserve lies within the counties of Bunyaruguru, Igara and Buhweju in the administrative districts of Bushenyi, Ibanda and Kamwenge It was officially gazetted in 1932 and is controlled by Uganda's National Forestry Authority (NFA).
Lake Mulehe is a crater lake situated in the Kisoro District of southwestern Uganda, close to the border with Rwanda. This lake is a part of the Albertine Rift, which is well known for its biological diversity and visually striking landscapes.
