Lake Mburo National Park

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Uganda.

Lake Mburo National Park has a good variety of wildlife. Lions are locally extinct, but there are healthy populations of leopard and spotted hyena. Antelope species include impala, defassa waterbuck, eland, topi, duiker, oribi, bohor reedbuck and klipspringer. Herds of up to 100 buffalo are common, and Rothschild’s giraffe has been reintroduced. Other wildlife includes plains zebra, warthog, olive baboon and vervet monkey. Hippos and crocodiles can be found in the lakes.

ElephantNone

GiraffeCommon

HippoCommon

BuffaloCommon

ZebraCommon

WildebeestNone

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

LionNone

LeopardOccasional

CheetahNone

HyenaOccasional

Wild DogNone

Wildlife Highlights

Lake Mburo is probably the most reliable park in Uganda for leopards, which are quite frequently encountered on night drives (though sightings are less frequent for a few day around full moon). It is also the only place in Uganda where the impala is naturally resident, while Burchell’s zebra and eland are otherwise only found in Kidepo Valley National Park. Lake Mburo’s bushbuck have an unusual habit of standing on termite mounds.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

Lake Mburo can be visited anytime, with wildlife viewing pretty consistent year-round. The Dry seasons (January to February and June to August) are best for seeing animals gather around rivers and waterholes. During the Wet seasons (March to May and September to December), large numbers of animals can be seen in the open valleys.