Kibale National Park
🇺🇬 Uganda
East Africa, Uganda 1576 spp. recorded
Kibale National Park is a protected tropical rainforest in East Africa, positioned within Uganda. This dense, green expanse differs from neighboring savanna parks by offering a towering, closed canopy and a damp understory that supports an exceptional variety of primates and resident forest birds.
0.521° N 30.420° E
🦜 Nature
624 Species sighted
71,138 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 624 more species with insufficient data
Recent sightings in Kibale National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
60Jan
52Feb
57Mar
55Apr
63May
50Jun
51Jul
56Aug
51Sep
59Oct
51Nov
53Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
-
Bigodi Swamp
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
Red-tailed Monkey~90%+10%
Mantled Guereza~90%+10%
grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey~80%+20%
Olive Baboon~70%-10%
Red-legged Sun Squirrel~60%+30%
Common Bulbul~50%-10%
Great Blue Turaco~50%-10%
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill~50%-20%
Uganda blue-headed tree agama~50%≈
Montane side-striped chameleon~50%+20%
Red-eyed Dove~50%-10%
Little Greenbul~50%-10%
-
Primate Lodge
Daily sight. prob.vs avg- Olive Baboon~90%+10%
- Red-tailed Monkey~80%≈
- grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey~70%+10%
- Mantled Guereza~70%-10%
- Uganda blue-headed tree agama~60%+10%
Ashy Red Colobus~50%-30%- Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill~50%-20%
Northern Bushbuck~40%+10%
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird~40%-10%
Tambourine Dove~40%-10%- Great Blue Turaco~40%-20%
- Little Greenbul~40%-10%
-
Guereza Canopy Lodge
Daily sight. prob.vs avg- Red-tailed Monkey~80%≈
- Olive Baboon~70%-10%
- Ashy Red Colobus~60%-10%
- Montane side-striped chameleon~60%+30%
- Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill~50%-10%
- Uganda blue-headed tree agama~50%+10%
- Common Bulbul~50%-10%
Olive-bellied Sunbird~50%≈- Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird~40%-10%
- Northern Bushbuck~40%+10%
African Striped Skink~40%+20%- grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey~40%-20%
-
Chimpanzee Forest Lodge
Daily sight. prob.vs avg- Olive Baboon~80%≈
- grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey~70%+10%
Chimpanzee~70%-10%- Uganda blue-headed tree agama~60%+20%
Common Reed Frog~60%+40%- African Striped Skink~50%+20%
- Mantled Guereza~50%-30%
- Red-tailed Monkey~50%-30%
- Common Bulbul~40%-20%
Speckled Mousebird~40%-10%
Bronze Mannikin~40%-10%- Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill~30%-30%
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Entrance
Paid
Tourism
Low
Typical stay
2–3
daysTrails
Moderate
World Heritage
No
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 Excellent
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
ExcellentHow rich is the wildlife?
4.8
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 1048
🐒 Mammals 294
🦎 Reptiles 180
🐸 Amphibians 54
1576 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
55 Threatened 5 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
Very goodHow likely to see animals?
3.9
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
66% 📊
Coverage (247 species at ≥5% of 1576 in the inventory)
16% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (6 mammal, 6 bird)
67% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
177 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
20 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
25 🏕️
Experience
ExcellentHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
4.4
Climate Pleasant High
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Low High
Trails Moderate Medium
World Heritage No —
What visitors say
After we finished with the chimpanzees we headed to the Bigodi swamp, sorry Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, where monkeys have found a haven away from chimpanzees.
At the top of that list are the chimpanzees and that’s what we were there to see.
If chimpanzee trekking gives you a glimpse into the lives of our closest relatives, chimpanzee habituation offers something much richer… an immersive, behind-the-scenes experience that few travellers ever get.
Also appropriately, on this very tour, we heard stories while walking with a guide around the Bigodi Swamp about chimpanzees hunting red colobus monkeys.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Kibale National Park?
1,576 species
Kibale National Park has 1,576 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Olive Baboon (about 80%), Chimpanzee (about 80%), Red-tailed Monkey (about 80%), Ashy Red Colobus (about 70%) and Mantled Guereza (about 70%). Among birds, the most-seen is Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill (about 60%); among reptiles, Uganda blue-headed tree agama (about 50%); among amphibians, Common Reed Frog (about 20%).
When is the best time to visit Kibale National Park for wildlife?
March, August, October and December–January
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 70% on a given day, against about 60% in February, April–July, September and November.
Can you see a Chimpanzee in Kibale National Park?
Yes
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Chimpanzee sighting in Kibale National Park on a given day, based on 197 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is January and September (about 90%).
Can you see an Ashy Red Colobus in Kibale National Park?
Yes
About 70% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy Red Colobus sighting in Kibale National Park on a given day, based on 154 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is January, April, June, August and October–November (about 80%).
Can you see a Red-tailed Monkey in Kibale National Park?
Yes
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Red-tailed Monkey sighting in Kibale National Park on a given day, based on 101 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is August, October and December–April (about 80%).
Where in Kibale National Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around Bigodi Swamp
The richest sighting zone is around Bigodi Swamp, followed by Primate Lodge and Guereza Canopy Lodge, ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Kibale National Park good for wildlife watching?
4.1 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Kibale National Park rates 4.1/5: 96th of 316 parks worldwide and 46th in Africa. 40 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
