This 770 mi² (1978 km²) national park is Uganda’s premier destination for viewing big game. The park’s volcanic cones, craters, crater lakes, grassy plains,
swamps, rivers, lakes, and tropical forest are home to elephant, buffalo, lion (tree-climbers can be spotted in the Ishasha region of the park), leopard,
sitatunga, giant forest hog, Uganda kob, topi, Defassa waterbuck, crocodile, and hippo. The Kyambura Gorge and Maramagambo Forest both features chimpanzee
populations, while the latter also has populations of black-and-white colobus monkeys, red colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys and baboons.
Perhaps what is most distinguishable about Queen Elizabeth National Park is its birdlife, featuring well over 600 species (one of the highest concentrations
in the world) distributed throughout the park’s waterways (especially the Kazinga channel, connecting Lake Edward and Lake George), forests, and
open savannahs. Notable species include the giant and dwarf kingfisher, nectar-feeding sunbirds, red-throated
bee-eater, piapics, Ross’s turaco, shoebill, and flycatchers.
