Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Uganda.

Wildlife densities are low in Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve. The most common large mammals are black-and-white colobus and Uganda kob, but you should also look out for forest elephant, plains elephant, buffalo, defassa waterbuck and red-tailed monkey. Night drives come with a chance of spotting leopard, spotted hyena, giant forest hog and small carnivores such as genet. Animals here are generally quite skittish and may be difficult to approach by car.

ElephantOccasional

GiraffeNone

HippoRare

BuffaloOccasional

ZebraNone

WildebeestNone

ChimpanzeeOccasional

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

LionNone

LeopardRare

CheetahNone

Wild DogNone

Wildlife Highlights

Toro-Semliki is one of the few parks where visitors stand a chance of seeing forest elephant. This distinct species is distinguished from the plains elephant, which also occurs here, by its smaller size and straighter tusks. Chimpanzees are quite often seen in Mugiri Forest between June and August, when they gather around fruiting trees rather than foraging far and wide in the savannah. Other notable primates include black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkey and (very rare) de Brazza’s monkey.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

The best time for wildlife viewing in Toro-Semliki is during the Dry seasons (December to February and June to July) when animals concentrate around water sources. March and August are also good for seeing wildlife. At other times of year, roads may become impassable after heavy rain.