Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is Uganda’s smallest park, but probably the most scenic. It is located on the South western tip of the country on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and covers an area of just 34 sq kms.
It encompasses the Uganda side of the three Bufumbira Volcanic Mountains of Mgahinga (3400m), Muhavura (4127m) and Sabinyo (3645m) on the boundary with Rwanda and the democratic Republic of Congo.
The National Park is known for its Mountain Gorilla Population and was gazetted as a Gorilla sanctuary in 1930, the boundary of which followed approximately the 2450 m contour and the Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) borders. In 1964, the northern boundary was changed to a lower altitude (2280m) extending into heavily encroached zones and gazetted as a Game reserve which made its present area of roughly 47.5km². The game reserve was gazetted to its present status of a National Park in 1992.
Three species of primates are known to be in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and these include; The Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei), the Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti) and Black and White Colobus (Colobus guereza). Other animals of interest include Buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), Giant Forest Hogs (Hylocchoerus meinertzhageni), Golden Cats (Felis aurata), Elephants (loxodanta Africana) and some bird species such as the globally threatened Grauer’s Rush Warbler.