Kidepo Valley National Park

Kidepo Valley National park started as a game reserve and later in 1962 was turned into a national park. Kidepo valley national park covers an area of equivalent to 1,442 square kilometers and between 914 – 2750 meters above the seas level. Kidepo national park was first inhabited by the Dodoth who were the pastoralists and the Ik who were the farmers. It was gazetted as a game reserve by the colonial governments as a move to protect its diversity of floras and fauna from heavy poaching and bush clearing which was done by Ik and Dodoth people.

The park is located in the northeastern part of Uganda in the remote region of Karamoja and forms one of the best African wildlife safaris destination.  Kidepo valley national park is the most isolated Uganda national park comprised of rugged terrain covered by savanna, hills and great valleys that are bounded by mountains of Morungole hills. The park is one of the modest national parks wisely for wildlife viewing. Given its magnificent wildlife and topography, Kidepo valley national park was listed among the top 3 Africa’s most attractive and interesting national parks to visit

Kidepo valley national park is a home base to over 80 mammal species and over 474 recorded bird species. This has it to bane one of the pristine parks with virgin wildlife species where tourists can go and enjoy comfortably.

Some of the wildlife species in Kidepo National park are endemic to it never to be found in any of the other Ugandan parks these include Maneless Zebras, the ostrich, the Orx, Cheetahs and Wild dogs, striped hyena, bat-eared fox, caracal, and aardwolf.  However, there are other commonly seen species such as Oribis, Elephants, Burchell’s zebras, Bush pigs, Jackson’s hartebeests, Bohor reedbucks, Cape buffaloes,  Defassa waterbucks, Warthogs, Bush duskier, Rothschild giraffes, and Bushbucks, Elands, besides there are Common zebras, Lions, Leopards, plus several small cats like the Kangoni, Side-striped jackal, Spotted hyenas and Black-backed jackal. The park has five primate species including the patas monkeys, Olive baboons, Kavirondo bush baby the most endemic, and others