All 5 in 3 days here: <5%
Kidepo Valley National Park
🇺🇬 Uganda
East Africa, Uganda 1165 spp. recorded
Kidepo Valley National Park is a remote tropical savanna nestled in the rugged mountains of northeastern Uganda. Its landscape features open grass plains and dry acacia valleys bound by distant peaks, offering wide walking tracks through sun-drenched shrublands.
3.938° N 33.887° E
🦜 Nature
553 Species sighted
20,229 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Jul Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 824 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
Recent sightings in Kidepo Valley National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
54Jan
53Feb
58Mar
4.3Apr
6May
55Jun
71Jul
60Aug
62Sep
62Oct
48Nov
57Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
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Narus River
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Karenga Gate to Apoka
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3.838° N, 33.764° E
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
Clapperton's Francolin~60%-10%
Crested Francolin~50%-20%
Abyssinian Roller~50%-10%
Yellow-billed Shrike~50%-20%
African Grey Hornbill~50%-20%
White-backed Vulture~50%-10%
Meyer's Parrot~50%-10%
Rüppell's Glossy-starling~50%-10%
White-browed Coucal~40%-20%
Sooty Chat~40%-20%
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu~40%-30%
Piapiac~40%-30%
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Entrance
Paid
Tourism
Low
Typical stay
2–3
daysTrails
Easy
World Heritage
No
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 World-class
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
Very goodHow rich is the wildlife?
4.2
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 834
🐒 Mammals 199
🦎 Reptiles 113
🐸 Amphibians 19
1165 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
38 Threatened 20 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
ExcellentHow likely to see animals?
5.0
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
74% 📊
Coverage (258 species at ≥5% of 1165 in the inventory)
22% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (8 mammal, 4 bird)
59% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
227 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
35 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
51 🏕️
Experience
ExcellentHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
4.8
Climate Pleasant High
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Low High
Trails Easy High
World Heritage No —
What visitors say
Much of the wildlife is very relaxed around the camp, walking back to my room I encountered waterbuck, warthogs, hartebeest, and zebra.
We came across a large herd of grazing Cape buffalo that took a special interest in our tiny group of four people.
We still saw elephants, jackals, giraffes, kudu, vultures pecking away at a buffalo carcass, and even a bat hanging in the campsite latrine.
Jackson's Hartbeeste is one of the antelopes found in the park, often seen in small herds On my recent visit to Kidepo Valley National Park, i saw for the first time, The maneless zebra (Equus quagga borensis) This is a subspecies of the plains zebra, spread over the northern parts of eastern Africa.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Kidepo Valley National Park?
1,165 species
Kidepo Valley National Park has 1,165 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are African Buffalo (about 80%), Plains Zebra (about 80%), Common Warthog (about 80%), Hartebeest (about 80%) and Waterbuck (about 80%). Among birds, the most-seen is Crested Francolin (about 70%); among reptiles, African Five-lined Skink (about 50%).
When is the best time to visit Kidepo Valley National Park for wildlife?
March
In that month the park's 12 most-seen species average about 80% on a given day, against about 40% in April and May. That is one of Kidepo Valley National Park's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 130 mm in July.
Can you see an African Bush Elephant in Kidepo Valley National Park?
Yes
About 50% of wildlife watchers report an African Bush Elephant sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is February (about 80%).
Can you see a Northern Giraffe in Kidepo Valley National Park?
Yes
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Giraffe sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is February and October (about 80%).
Where in Kidepo Valley National Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around Narus River
The richest sighting zone is around Narus River, followed by Karenga Gate to Apoka and Apoka Rest Camp, ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Kidepo Valley National Park good for wildlife watching?
4.8 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Kidepo Valley National Park rates 4.8/5: 33rd of 316 parks worldwide and 24th in Africa. 60 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
