Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is situated in the South Western part of Uganda. It is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest situated along the Democratic Republic of Congo border, next to the Virunga National Park and on the edge of the Albertine Rift. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest comprises of 331 square kilometres (128 sq mi) of jungle forests and contains both montana and lowland forest and is accessible only on foot.
The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. Journey through its mist-shrouded forests and diverse vegetation in search of Bwindi’s magnificent mountain gorillas.
Whilst the 14 habituated mountain gorilla groups draw many to the park, it also claims one of the most varied collections of mammals, 120 species rich, as well as 350 bird species. Encounter baboons and chimpanzees, elephants and antelope, 200 species of butterfly, and 14 bird species seen nowhere else in Uganda.
In the local language “bwindi” “mubwindi” means “dark place”, referring to the impenetrable nature of the thick forest.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Reserve was set up in 1942 and later on renovated to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 1992. In 1994, it was acknowledged as the world Heritage site. What makes Bwindi Impenetrable is the fact that it covers an area of about 327km2 of scrambled vegetation draped over an intensively fissured landscape of the steep, haughty ridges as well as the slippery valleys and high.
The park is inhabited by a population of about 400 individual mountain’ gorillas,known as the Bwindi population, which makes up almost half of all the mountain gorillas in the world. The rest of the worldwide mountain gorilla population is in the nearby Virunga National Park. A 2006 census of the mountain gorilla population in the park showed that its numbers had increased modestly from an estimated 300 individuals in 1997 to 320 individuals in 2002 to 340 individuals in 2006.
There are 11 species of primates, including chimpanzee, the monkey variants such as Hoest’s, red-tailed and blue monkey, black and white colobus, olive baboon. Specially, Bwindi is home to about 400 Gorilla gorilla beringei*, a half of the total remaining world population. There are 346 species of birds registered (Bwindi contains 90% of all Albertine Rift endemics, hard to experience in any other place in East Africa) and 200 species of butterflies.
Gorilla tracking is the park’s main tourist attraction. Tourists wishing to track gorillas must first obtain a permit to do so. Selected gorillas families have been habituated to human presence and the number of visitors is tightly controlled to prevent degradation of the habitat and risks to the gorillas.
Tourists can visit the park any time throughout the year, although conditions in the park are more difficult during the rainy season. Available tourist accommodations include lodges, tented camps, and cheaper rooms run by the local community, located near the Buhoma entrance gate. The park is in a remote location, and reaching the park involves a long difficult journey
Bwindi Impenetrable National park attracts 10% of tourists that come to visit Uganda’s 10 national parks.
Animal Life
The most prominent species here due to the high numbers and endangerment status are the mountain gorilla, where males can be in excess of 500 pounds and silverbacks may be over 6ft.
Other mammal species are mostly small forest species, such as six species of antelope including bushbuck and several species of duiker.
When thinking about birds, you may find; African broadbill, Black bee-eater, Black-billed turaco, Black-faced rufous warbler, Western green tinkerbird Yellow-streaked greenbul, Olive-breasted greenbul, Regal sunbird, Grauer’s broadbill, Blue-headed sunbird and Many-coloured bush-shrike.
Activities and Culture
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