​Wildlife & Animals – Budongo Forest

Ariadne van Zandbergen
Expert
By Ariadne van Zandbergen

Ariadne is a renowned Africa expert. She and her husband form a team who write and update many Bradt guides, including the guide to Uganda.

Ariadne is a renowned Africa expert. She and her husband form a team who write and update many Bradt guides, including the guide to Uganda.

Ariadne is a renowned Africa expert. She and her husband form a team who author the Bradt guide to Uganda.

Ariadne and her husband form a team who author the Bradt guide to Uganda.

Budongo’s main attraction is tracking a troop of habituated chimpanzees at Kaniyo Pabidi. Your guide will take you along the forest trails to find them. Once found, you can observe them for one hour. They may be feeding in the canopy, or resting and grooming on the ground. If they’re on the move, following them can be quite an adventure.

Abundant
Common
Occasional
Rare
None
GorillaNone
ChimpanzeeCommon
White RhinoNone
Black RhinoNone
LionVery Rare
LeopardRare
CheetahNone
HippoNone
BuffaloOccasional
ZebraNone
WildebeestNone
ElephantOccasional
GiraffeNone

Wildlife Highlights

Aside from chimpanzees, other primates that can be seen along the forest trails include black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkey, blue monkey and olive baboon. Nocturnal primates include potto and various forest galago species. The rarely seen tree pangolin is also resident. Keep an eye out for the checkered elephant shrew on the forest floor and the forest giant squirrel up in the trees.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

Trekking chimpanzees can be done throughout the year, but the success rate is highest in the drier months (from December to March and June to July). The park stays open throughout the year but, in heavy rain, the trails might be difficult to walk.

Wildlife Rating

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Wildlife Rating