Area: 776 km2 (300 sq mi)
Established: 1993
Location: Uganda
How to get there: By road it takes 5.30hrs to reach from Uganda to Kibale NP.
What to do there: Chimpanzee Trekking, Bird Watching, Nature Walk/ Hiking, Nocturnal Forest Walk.
Kibale National Park is a national park in western Uganda, it is protecting the moist evergreen rainforest. It is 766 km2 (296 sq mi) in size and ranges between 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) and 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in elevation. Despite of being surrounded primarily with the moist evergreen forest, it contains a diverse selection of landscapes. Kibale is one of the last remaining expanses to contain both lowland and montane forests. In eastern Africa, it withstands the last important expanse of pre-montane forest.
The park was gazetted in 1932 and formally established in 1993 to protect a large area of forest which was previously managed as a logged forest reserve. The park forms a continuous forest with Queen Elizabeth National Park. The adjoining of the parks creates a 180 kilometres (110 mi) wildlife passage. It is an important ecotourism and safari destination, well-known for its population of familiarized chimpanzees and twelve other species of monkeys. It is also the location of the Makerere University Biological Field Station.
Two major tribes at Uganda, the Batooro and Bakiga, dwell in the area around the park. These people use the park for their food, fuel, and other resources with the help of the Uganda Wildlife Authority. By the last century, the population around the park has increased by sevenfold. This is remarkable as the park gets directly the revenue for those living around it and the tourism industry creates jobs. In addition, many farmers believe that the soil is better for growing crops year-round. This increase in the population has caused the area around the park to be divided and developed or turned into plantations and farmland, and demand for firewood asserts pressure on the park’s wildlife habitat.
Kibale Forest attracts nature lovers very powerfully and mysteriously who come to view a wide range of forest, to view birding and track chimpanzees throughout. Also, it attracts other twelve monkey species (the highest on the continent) those are found to be refuge within the park.
The park’s attractive demand, chimp tracking cost, and the growing number of safari accommodation choices makes it one of the Uganda’s top journey’s end place and a great alternative to the southern gorilla whose destination is Bwindi Dense National Park.
Gazetted in October 1993, the 766 square kilometre primate park extends southwards from Fort Portal to form a contiguous block with the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
