Mahale Mountains National Park

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Tanzania.

Mahale Mountains National Park’s main attraction is the opportunity to track chimpanzees, our closest relatives, on foot. Roughly 900 chimps inhabit the park, and the habituated community of about 75 individuals is very used to people. Guides and trackers are on hand to take you hiking along the forest trails to find these charismatic creatures.

GorillaNone

ChimpanzeeCommon

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

LionVery Rare

LeopardRare

CheetahNone

HippoOccasional

BuffaloRare

ZebraRare

WildebeestNone

ElephantRare

GiraffeRare

Wildlife Highlights

Nine primate species have been recorded in the park, most notably chimpanzee and the endangered Ugandan red colobus, which is known from only four other locations in Tanzania and Uganda. Yellow baboon, blue monkey, red-tailed monkey and vervet monkey are also likely to be seen, and you might hear lesser and greater galago at night. The nocturnal bushpig is also quite often heard foraging around lakeshore accommodations at night. Mahale’s inaccessible eastern slopes support seldom-seen populations of elephant, lion, wild dog, roan antelope, buffalo and giraffe. An undescribed subspecies of Angola colobus is endemic to the forested upper slopes of Mount Nkungwe and likely to be seen only by those who do a day hike there.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

The best time for chimpanzee trekking is during the Dry season (May to October). Odds of a good sighting are highest from August onward, when the chimps tend to stay close to the lakeshore accommodations. The park stays open throughout the year, but in heavy rain the trails might be difficult to walk and chimps are often on the more distant higher slopes.