Semuliki National Park sprawls across the floor of the Semliki Valley on the remote, western side of the Rwenzori. The Park covers an area of 220km² with an altitude of 670-760m above sea level.

The park is dominated by the easternmost extension of the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin. This is one of Africa’s most ancient and bio-diverse forests; one of the few to survive the last ice age, 12-18,000 years ago.

While Semuliki’s species have been accumulating for over 25,000 years, the park contains evidence of even older processes. Hot springs bubble up from the depths to demonstrate the powerful subterranean forces that have been shaping the rift valley during the last 14 million years.

Wildlife

Semuliki National Park’s location within the Albertine Rift ecosystem at the junction of continental climatic and ecological zones has resulted in a high diversity of plant and animal species. Many of the park’s plant and animal species are inhabitants of the Congo forests and exist at the eastern limit of their range in Semuliki. The park contains 53 mammal species, including an impressive 11 primates, all of which have been found within 6km of Sempaya. Five species of large mammals and 7 species of small mammals have not been recorded in other Ugandan parks while several others, including Dent’s mona monkey, the Central African red colobus, forest buffalo and the water chevrotain, occur nowhere else in East Africa. Of the 1047 birds recorded in Uganda, 435 bird species (43%) are found in Semuliki National Park. These include Albertine Rift Endemics such as the dwarf honey guide and purple-breasted sunbirds; 35 Congo-Guinea biome species found nowhere else in East Africa, including black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon woodpecker; and other species with very limited ranges such as white-tailed hornbill, capuchin babbler, blueheaded crested flycatcher and the orange weaver.