Nature conservation through the eco tours is very important to the people of Uganda. Recognizing activities like gorilla trekking, wildlife viewing, and bird watching are essential to the tourist infrastructure of the country, many steps have been taken to protect the gorilla population as well as the many other diverse plant and animal species found in the country. Much of Uganda can be classified as a plateau, with numerous small hills and valleys, forests and savanna plains.

The entire country lies 900m above sea level. Uganda lies in a cradle of mountains on its eastern border with Kenya, Mount Elgon, and Mount Moroto in the northeast, and the Southwestern Rwenzori Ranges rising to altitudes over 2000m. Principal rivers are the Albert Nile and the Victoria Nile. Uganda's lakes are Lake Victoria on the borders with Kenya and Tanzania, Lakes Albert and Edward on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lakes George and Kyoga.

Wildlife in Uganda

There are six national parks in Uganda that offer the opportunity for wildlife drives: Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo Valley, Semliki and Lake Mburo. With more mammal and bird species than any park in Uganda, Queen Elizabeth and Semliki offers the greatest variety of birds; however, Murchison Falls offers the larger mammals in greater concentration and also giraffes, which aren’t found at Queen Elizabeth. At both parks you’re very likely to elephants, buffaloes, hippos, bush bucks and Kobs; and, although it’s not so easy to spot predators, with a bit of luck you’ll also see lions and leopards.

Wildlife drives at Lake Mburo are very popular because it’s the only place in the south with zebras and eland. These beauties can also be found in seldom-visited Kidepo Valley, which offers the chance to see cheetahs, ostriches, kudus, bat-eared foxes and many other animals found in no other part of Uganda. Game drives are available in Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve too, although most people come here for chimpanzees.

It doesn’t matter of where you drive and what you’re seeking, taking a Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger-guide will almost guarantee more and better encounters. It must be stated again that Uganda doesn’t have the mammalian bounty of Kenya and Tanzania, but, it also doesn’t have the masses. In Uganda, two trucks watching the same scene is a crowd.

Gorilla Safaris Uganda is one of the major activities for travelers in Uganda. These gentle giants live in two national parks: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.

Chimpanzee trekking is a very popular activity in Uganda and there are several places where it’s possible. The main ones are Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park; Kibale Forest National Park; and Budongo Forest Reserve, part of Murchison Falls National Park. Another good option is the little-known Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve. It has a thinner forest and so often offers the best viewing, and, because there’s plenty of Savannah around, the little guys are a little more likely to be seen walking upright. Although the troop at the private Kigaju Forest has yet to be habituated, it’s found quite often; and this is by far the cheapest place to seek out chimps. The half-habituated troop in the Kalinzu Forest Reserve near Queen Elizabeth National Park is only found about half the time.

As with tracking the gorillas, you get to spend one hour with humans’ closest living relatives; although they move much further and faster, so the chance of actually finding them is a little less certain. Still, the likelihood is quite high (80% to 90%); and unlike the gorillas who sometimes just laze around doing next to nothing, chimpanzees put on a show, swinging through the trees, fighting, mating and generally whooping it up. All this makes the day-long encounters that are also available at Kibale and Budongo very appealing.

Some of the animals you can see in Uganda's forests, parks and rivers are hedgehog, bat, jackal, weasel, badger, otter, genet, mongoose, hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, serval, African wild cat, golden cat, hyrax, African elephant, zebra, rhinoceros, warthog, hippopotamus, giraffe, duiker, antelope, Oribi, hartebeest, topi, impala, buffalo, python, cobra, crocodile, baboon, grey-checked manageable, black faced velvet monkey, chimpanzee and many more. Most impressive is the beautiful mountain gorilla that also can be seen in the wild in Uganda.