Exploring Uganda’s Hidden Gem | Lake Mburo National Park | MAY 21, 2026

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[00:00:00]And it consists of Lake Mburo National Park and the neighboring ranches [music] as well as other districts neighboring Kiruhura, Isingiro, [music] Masaka, Rakai, Ssembabule. Because all of that area [music] we manage it because of human-wildlife conflict in those areas.

[00:00:19]So, >> [music] >> this is the center for managing that wildlife area. Lake Mburo National Park is a gazetted area and at first it began [music] as a community hunting area way back [music] in the 1930s.

[00:00:37]Later on it was upgraded to a [music] game reserve. That was around 1963-1964.

[00:00:43][music] It became a game reserve and later on became a national park in 1983. [music] When it became a national park in 1983, it had an area of about 60 650 square kilometers.

[00:00:57]But later on in 1986, [music] the size was reduced to 370 square kilometers.

[00:01:04]So, that was a reduction of around 56 57%. [music] But still we remained with a what?

[00:01:13]A national park. This national park is a nice park. It consists of rolling [music] hills of course and it has a savanna grasslands. [music] It has a acacia woodland and it has the wetlands.

[00:01:29]So, >> [music] >> as well as the lakes. So, it over offers a unique ecosystem >> [music] >> in this area.

[00:01:36]So, given those different ecosystems, we have different wildlife species [music] that are into Lake Mburo. One of them are the impalas.

[00:01:46]Of course, impalas >> [music] >> previously they were not found anywhere else in They were only found in what?

[00:01:53]In >> [music] >> Lake Mburo National Park.

[00:01:56]But later on, there was dispersal through translocation.

[00:02:01]So, >> [music] >> Lake Mburo is a dispersal area, taking impalas to different protected [music] areas like Pian Upe, like Katonga.

[00:02:11]>> [music] >> So, those were impalas. We also have elands here. Elands are found in only three protected [music] areas. Lake Mburo is one of them, as well as Kidepo and Pian. So, Lake Mburo also gave a seed of >> [music] >> uh elands to Kidepo Valley National Park.

[00:02:30]Then we have other wildlife like the leopards, the buffaloes, [music] the oribis, the topis. And you know topis are also found in [music] very few protected areas. Just here, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth only in the Ishasha sector, [music] and also Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve.

[00:02:53]Lake Mburo offers the different packages for the visitors.

[00:02:59]We have what we call game drives. We have the day game drives, which begin around 6:30, and the evening ones [music] begin around 4:00 p.m. for visitors to enjoy seeing the wildlife in their pristine environment. [music] The other thing we have here are the night game drives. Of course, the night game drives are important [music] for visitors to see the nocturnal animals.

[00:03:23]Nocturnal mostly these are the hyenas, the bushbabies, and where are the leopards?

[00:03:30]So, >> [music] >> night game drives are of recent catching up.

[00:03:34]People are coming in a lot for the night game drives because of the leopards and the hyenas.

[00:03:40]Then we have cycling, of course, [music] and horse riding, which we do hand in hand with stakeholders [music] of Mihingo Lodge.

[00:03:49]Then also we have the boat cruises. Boat cruises are You go to the boat cruise and you see the different water [music] species within the lakes.

[00:03:58]The hippos, the crocodiles, >> [music] >> as well as the water birds, African fish eagles, and the [music] pied kingfisher.

[00:04:07]Then also we have the nature walk. We do nature walks [music] here. Guided nature walk. Those, you know, walking around visitors walking alone in the park without rangers can cause a threat because most of them don't [music] know animal behavior.

[00:04:23]But with a trained guide, you can be guided well for the nature [music] walks.

[00:04:28]So, all that are offered by Lake Mburo Conservation [music] Area.

[00:04:35]Of course, we have challenges as a park.

[00:04:38]And one [music] of the challenges is the human-wildlife conflict.

[00:04:42]You know, boundaries of protected areas are porous. And the land is continuous.

[00:04:48]And we all all know that wild animals don't know boundaries.

[00:04:52]>> [music] >> So, wild animals go out of the protected areas and they cause [music] human-wildlife conflicts in form of injuries to people, damage to crops, [music] and also damage to other property. For example, dams.

[00:05:07]Uh Of course, the neighboring community, most of them are pastoralists and farmers. The pastoralists have their dams for watering [music] their animals.

[00:05:15]But sometimes they can wake up in the morning and they find hippos in their pools.

[00:05:21]So, hippos [music] are both a threat to them as well as the what? The animals.

[00:05:28]Uh we've had, of course, some deaths >> [music] >> from hippos in the community.

[00:05:34]We've had also some death of wildlife, I mean, domestic animals caused by our leopards, and also crop damage by buffaloes. [music] So the most problematic animal here is the hippo followed by the buffalo. Those are the major ones doing what? Human-wildlife conflict.

[00:06:00]But we try to do some interventions.

[00:06:03]For example, in areas that are far away from the protected area, we teach the communities how to [music] manage this wildlife.

[00:06:14]Of course, hippos, for example, if you put trenches around your farms, hippos [music] won't cross into your farm. And that has been done. Also, there has been done some short fences.

[00:06:25]>> [music] >> Short wood fences. When you put them, the hippos can't cross to your farm.

[00:06:30]As well as fencing. So those are some of the protective measures >> [music] >> that we are doing, putting into place into the local community areas to deter wild animals >> [music] >> injuring them. Lake Mburo is safe. It's 370 square kilometers. But neighboring [music] pastoral pastoralists. And pastoralists, of course, have vast land >> [music] >> where their cattle graze. But in their land also, we have wildlife. So our our wildlife is both inside the park and outside. [music] Approximately 50% of the wild animals are in the ranches, while the other 50% are in the what?

[00:07:09]In the [music] protected area. So what we do is normally we encourage [music] the pastoralists to coexist with the wildlife.

[00:07:21]And usually they do that. [music] They coexist with the wildlife. It's only that there's land land [music] use change in some areas neighboring the park where people are now doing >> [music] >> farming. And this thing change in land use brings also a lot of conflict because animals go out and eat the [music] what?

[00:07:41]The crops.

[00:07:42]Okay?

[00:07:43]But also the other challenge we have is the the grazing. Much of Much of our animals go into grazing >> [music] >> outside.

[00:07:51]There's also illegal grazing by the pastoralists inside the park, [music] which is not allowed. So, we try to curb that what?

[00:08:02]That illegal grazing.

[00:08:04]By either arresting the cows and then [music] they pay the fines. That illegal grazing happens and as well as also we have poaching.

[00:08:12]Poaching, of course, like we said, wild animals are on the farms. [music] So, some poachers take advantage of that because of the low ranger force that can operate on the farms. [music] So, they do what we call poaching on the farms.

[00:08:27]And as well as the We have the >> [music] >> Nakivale refugee camp.

[00:08:34]People normally The refugees do sometimes cross inside the park to do poaching. [music] But uh we are vigilant and we try as much as possible to stop that.

[00:08:45]Then the other challenge we have is the sort of encroachment within the park. We have the Kisembi area [music] that is near Rakobo.

[00:08:55]In this area, there are people who are settled in the park.

[00:08:59]Okay?

[00:09:00]>> [music] >> But these people, of course, will be compensated and they will go out. So, Uganda Wildlife Authority is working on modalities of how to compensate [music] these people so that they can leave the parkland and go and live elsewhere.

[00:09:14]Now, on some of the conservation successes we've had here [music] is uh we introduced giraffes here, [music] and that was in 2015.

[00:09:24]We brought only 15 individuals of giraffes.

[00:09:28]But uh due to the environment they came in, >> [music] >> it was very, very conducive. Food is in plenty.

[00:09:35]Um the water is available. And these ones range only within the what? In the protected areas. They've not started going [music] into community land and ranches. And currently we have a population of over 90 giraffes. So, that is really what? A success [music] story.

[00:09:52]And it has boosted tourism. Okay?

[00:09:56]Most of the visitors when they are coming, they want to see the [music] giraffes. And the giraffes are readily available.

[00:10:01]Okay? Even you when you go for a game drive, >> [music] >> you readily see the what? The giraffes.

[00:10:06]So, that's one of the success stories we've had here.

[00:10:09]And uh yeah, the giraffe population is increasing.

[00:10:14]And when it reaches a certain level, still we can donate it to other areas.

[00:10:18]The other range of animal that visitors can see are the zebras. We have a lot of zebras, lots of hundreds of zebras, both within the park and outside. [music] So, these ones are also readily available and they can be seen whenever you go for a game drive. They are They're distribution is wide within the what? [music] The ecosystem of the park. Given the proper management of Lake Mburo National Park, >> [music] >> animal population is on increase. It's steadily growing. So, this growing population had has enabled other protected areas to benefit [music] from Lake Mburo. For example, zebras have been translocated from Lake Mburo to Katonga. [music] And the Katonga population is also now doing well. So, visitors will go to Katonga. Also well what?

[00:11:06]Well catered [music] for. Local communities around the park are benefiting.

[00:11:11]Uh one of the easiest benefits they are getting, of course, is resource access.

[00:11:17]Okay? There's resource access [music] here.

[00:11:20]When they want things like firewood and poles for building [music] their houses or building fences for the farmland, they can They approach us and they [music] are able to access the what? The resources.

[00:11:35]Then the other benefit they get from the [music] park can be through sport hunting. Like I said uh other animals outside protected area.

[00:11:44]So, sport hunting is mainly done in the ranches outside. So, when they do sport hunting there's a benefit that goes directly to the what? To the community. [music] So, that is one one other way communities benefit. Then also we have revenue sharing.

[00:12:02]The revenue sharing, 20% of the goat gate collections [music] go to the local community. That's by law.

[00:12:10]In the Wildlife Act [music] Cap 315. All revenue, 20% is supposed to go to the what? To the community. So, this revenue [music] is used by the community in different forms. They have been able to improve on their school blocks [music] or build new school blocks. They have been able to build hospitals or wards. [music] And they have also been able to improve on their water system.

[00:12:38]As well as their their livelihood because some some of the money can [music] go to livelihood. People can be given goats or cattle, cows to improve their what? Livelihood [music] in homes. Then also there's access to the fishing village called Rubare.

[00:12:55]Rubare is inside the park and people are allowed to do fishing. So, this also home income [music] of these people. And as they're doing fishing, we encourage them to have associations. [music] So, they form their association where they collect money as a group.

[00:13:12]And this money is used for [music] their development what? Outside the park. So, currently for Lake [music] Mburo, our general management plan has ended and now we are in the process of making a new general management plan >> [music] >> which is going to run for the next 10 years.

[00:13:28]So, in our general management plan we are looking [music] at new products. New products that visitors can come to see [music] here which can boost growth of the what? Of tourism. Having said that Mbarara because of its beauty and best location we have tourism areas >> [music] >> that we border with.

[00:13:55]Like Lake Mburo here.

[00:13:58]You can't go to Lake Mburo and [music] you fail to be here in the city. You can't be in the city and you have always been told that there is Lake Mburo National Park and you fail to go and look at how it is and it's beautiful sceneries, [music] the animals, the lake and the all that. So, this is the center of tourism. And recently Minister of tourism actually constructed the Mugaba Palace here >> [music] >> at Kamukuzi here.

[00:14:28]It captured uh it actually it constructed the Mugaba Palace here in Kamukuzi. What does this Mugaba Palace mean? It is because our children here have forgotten about our culture.

[00:14:44]They are those ones that have never even had have never even seen a a milk pot.

[00:14:52]They are those ones that have never even seen the grinding stone.

[00:14:56]So, this see Mugaba tourism [music] site is going to bring into our children young children [music] and even some people of our of our age have forgotten even the the the the their culture. They don't know even the clans. You will find that when you are there >> [music] >> you can know the Bashambo, this is the taboo, this is this, this is this, this is this and our origin.

[00:15:22]>> [music] >> How the kingdom started. Right away from the Batwe. To the time they were approached. You know? Here in Ankole.

[00:15:30]So, that history that history that we have been getting from from from from books is now real.

[00:15:39]It is the reality. You go and you see this. We have all those areas >> [music] >> uh in this city where one can come from Kampala. Even we are looking at tourism from abroad. But tourism should be promoted by our citizens here. We continue to look at um the tourism sector seriously in Mbarara City.

[00:16:02]One of them is that yesterday >> [music] >> we opened the Mugaba Palace.

[00:16:10]The Mugaba Palace is part of the areas that tourists will come and learn about our culture and tradition.

[00:16:20]Because we all have we now have the information [music] of how we've gone through to be what we are now as Mbarara City.

[00:16:31]>> [music] >> Why is it called Ankole?

[00:16:34]How did it come about?

[00:16:36]Now, Mugaba Palace is part of [music] the areas that we are proud of and we thank government, Minister of Tourism for having promoted Mugaba Palace to the level where [music] it is.

[00:16:50]And we want to develop more sites that are of great importance for our culture >> [music] >> here in Western Uganda.

[00:17:00]But we also want to thank the development partners.

[00:17:04]When we talked about >> [music] >> the tourism sites, the hotels, there are those private people [music] that have come in even in the industries, the factories of milk [music] which are doing milk and value addition.

[00:17:19]Of course, we have our local investors.

[00:17:23]And we thank them for having thought it fit to [music] invest in Mbarara. And that's a group of loser males, buffaloes, which were actually [music] away from the herd.

[00:17:36]Uh buffaloes buffalo males when they become sexually inactive, they are outcompeted by the stronger males, [music] and that's the time they are chased away from the herd. And that's what makes them [music] to become more aggressive.

[00:17:53]When we relate it to our daily lives, uh when you are a man and someone comes to your home and uh displaces you away from your home, you really don't feel good, and that's what these buffaloes [music] feel feel like. The loser male buffaloes are the most aggressive animals. [music] When you are moving in any park, please avoid getting close to the loser male buffaloes because they may charge you.

[00:18:26]They become so frustrated after being chased away from the herd.

[00:18:29]>> [music] >> Though in the herd, the herd is composed of 50 to 200 individuals, but you find all those they are under control of one dominant male.

[00:18:42]So, when he becomes sexually inactive, [music] he's just away from the >> [music] >> UBC inspiring Uganda.

[00:18:59]>> [music] [music]