Lake Mburo National Park

Lake Mburo National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
The entrance sign to Lake Mburo National Park
Location of Lake Mburo National Park
Location	Mbarara District, Uganda
Nearest city	Mbarara
Coordinates	00°37′40″S 30°58′00″E / 0.62778°S 30.96667°E / -0.62778; 30.96667Coordinates: 00°37′40″S 30°58′00″E / 0.62778°S 30.96667°E / -0.62778; 30.96667
Area	260 square kilometres (100 sq mi)
Governing body	Ugandan Wildlife Authority

Lake Mburo National Park is a national park located in western Uganda.

Location

Lake Mburo National Park is located in Kiruhura District in the Western Region of Uganda. The park is about 30 kilometres (19 mi), by road, east of Mbarara, the largest city in the sub-region. This location is approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi), by road, west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of the park are 00 36S, 30 57E (Latitude:0.6000; Longitude:30.9500).^[1]

Overview

The park has a variety of animals such as zebras, hippopotami, impala, warthogs, elands, buffaloes, jackals, leopards, and over three hundred (300) bird species. At 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi), the park is the smallest of Uganda’s Savannah national parks. The park has camp grounds and permanent tent facilities for visitors. In 2009, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which manages the park announced plans to introduce balloon tourism in the park.^[2]

History

Lake Mburo was originally gazetted in 1933 as a controlled hunting area and upgraded to a game reserve in 1963. The Banyankole Bahima residents continued to graze their cattle in the reserve until it was upgraded to national park status in 1983. The Obote government's upgrade decision was intended, in part, to weaken the Banyankole, who supported anti-Obote rebels. It came at the time of the Operation Bonanza massacre of 300,000 people. As the evicted pastoralists were not compensated for lost grazing land or assisted with resettling, many remained hostile to the upgrade. The rangeland outside the park was subsequently subdivided into small ranges and subsistence farming plots.^[3]

In 1985, the second Obote regime fell and the previous residents of Lake Mburo re-occupied the park's land, expelling park staff, destroying infrastructure, and killing wildlife. Less than half of the park's original land area was eventually re-gazetted by the National Resistance Movement government in 1986.^[3]

References

↑ Location of Mburo National Park at Google Maps
↑ Lake Mburo National Park To Introduce Balloon Tourism
1 2 Mallarach, Josep-Maria (2008). Protected landscapes and cultural amb [i.e. and] spiritual values. Heidelberg: World Conservation Union. pp. 132–134. ISBN 3925064605.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lake Mburo National Park.

Protected Areas of Uganda
National Parks	Bwindi Impenetrable Kibale Kidepo Valley Lake Mburo Mgahinga Gorilla Mount Elgon Murchison Falls Queen Elizabeth Rwenzori Mountains Semuliki
Wildlife Reserves	Ajai Aswa-Lolim^d Bokora Corridor Bugungu Kabwoya Karuma Katonga Kigezi Kyambura Lomunga East Madi Matheniko Pian Upe Toro-Semliki
Controlled Hunting Areas	Buhuka Central Karamoja (Napak) North Karamoja South Karamoja Karuma Falls Katonga Lipan West Madi Sebei Semliki East Teso North Teso
Community Wildlife Management Area	Amudat Iriri Kaiso Tonya Karenga Rwengara
Wildlife Sanctuaries	Entebbe Jinja Kazinga Malawa Mount Kei Ngama Island Ntoroko-Kanara Nyaburogo Otze Forest UWEC Ziwa Rhino
Ramsar Wetlands of Int'l Importance	Lake Bisina Lake George Lake Mburo-Nakivali Lake Nabugabo Lake Nakuwa Lake Opeta Lutembe Bay Mabamba Bay Murchison Falls Nabajjuzi Rwenzori Mountains Sango Bay-Musambwa Island-Kagera Bay
Uganda Wildlife Authority National Environment Management Authority ^d indicates degazetted

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.