Toro Semuliki Wildlife Reserve

Toro Semuliki Wildlife Reserve : also known as a conservation protected area in the western part of Uganda, located within Ntoroko and Kabarole districts in the Toro sub-region, on the floor of the rift valley where Lake Albert, Kijura escarpment and the mighty Rwenzori mountains create backdrops. The wildlife reserve is about 55 kilometers (34 mi) by road, north of Fort portal, the nearest large city and a gem to the tourism industry in Uganda. The reserve was established as a game reserve in 1926 and was among the first protected areas to be gazetted and the main reason was to protect the large numbers of Uganda kobs in the area.  The dominant vegetation type is the open acacia-combretum woodland and grassy savannah, interspersed with patches of Borassus palm forest, significant belts of riparian woodland along the main watercourses, as well as some extensive swamps towards Lake Albert.  South west of the Toro Semuliki Wildlife Reserve are the 3^rd highest elevated mountains in Africa, none other than the Rwenzori Mountains and North to the reserve is the famous Lake Albert. Appearing as one of the few spots where the extinct shoebill bird can be found, Lake Albert is a great destination for birding tours in Uganda. West of the reserve is the board Congolese rain forest that contains one of the richest, most extinct species reservoirs in the world and one of the planet’s biggest covers of the un-logged forest.  The park is a home to a number of wild animals such as elephants, leopards, waterbucks, giant forest hog, hippos, Uganda kobs, buffalos and many more. Primates include chimpanzees though rarely seen, baboons, vervet monkey, red-tailed monkey, black and white colobus monkey, dent’s mona monkey, central African red colobus, blue monkey and de Brazza’s. The reserve boosts over 440 bird species like red-necked falcon, black-billed barbet, great white pelican, malachite kingfisher, Abyssinian ground-hornbill, African pygmy goose, black coucal, pennant-winged nightjar, piapiac to mention a few. Toro Semuliki reserve is characterized by a hot climate, with the temperature halving after the sunsets, and the constant prospect of rain.