Budongo Forest

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Uganda.

Budongo’s main attraction is tracking a troop of habituated chimpanzees at Kaniyo Pabidi. Your guide will take you along the forest trails to find them. Once found, you can observe them for one hour. They may be feeding in the canopy, or resting and grooming on the ground. If they’re on the move, following them can be quite an adventure.

GorillaNone

ChimpanzeeCommon

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

LionVery Rare

LeopardRare

CheetahNone

HippoNone

BuffaloOccasional

ZebraNone

WildebeestNone

ElephantOccasional

GiraffeNone

Wildlife Highlights

Aside from chimpanzees, other primates that can be seen along the forest trails include black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkey, blue monkey and olive baboon. Nocturnal primates include potto and various forest galago species. The rarely seen tree pangolin is also resident. Keep an eye out for the checkered elephant shrew on the forest floor and the forest giant squirrel up in the trees.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

Trekking chimpanzees can be done throughout the year, but the success rate is highest in the drier months (from December to March and June to July). The park stays open throughout the year but, in heavy rain, the trails might be difficult to walk.