Queen Elizabeth national park in Uganda is home to the stunning tree climbing lions, its located in the western part of the Uganda and it’s the country’s most visited tourists destination. The park boasts with the highest bio diversity rates in Africa characterized with wildlife, savannah grasslands, lakes, swamps and do much more.
Tree climbing lions in Uganda
The tree climbing lions can only be found in Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth national park and
Lake Manyara national park in Tanzania, lions can be found in Kidepo valley and Murchison falls national park but there not unique to the tree climbing lions found in Queen Elizabeth national park. The common trees they climb are sycamore fig trees and acacia trees.
There reasons why this lions climb trees is not well-known but researchers have given out some of the following reasons according to study:
One of the reasons given as to why lions in Queen Elizabeth climb trees is that they want to have better views of their prey like antelopes, zebras and so much more. It is said that the views on the tree tops are better than on ground.
There other reason as to why lions climb trees is that during rainy season, the ground is filled up with breeding tsetse flies that bite other wildlife so the lions climb trees to escape from tsetse fly bites.
Another reason why lion climb trees is that when temperatures rise during the hot season, the ground gets very hot forcing lions to climb to the tree branches in order to cool off.
Other activities at the park
Wildlife viewing
Queen Elizabeth national park is not only home to the tree climbing lions but also other wildlife like elephants, warthogs, bush bucks, impalas, Ugandan Kob, leopards, reed bucks and so much more. Tourists can go for game drives or opt for an air balloon safari with the best views of wildlife and scenery.
Boat cruise at Kazinga channel
Launch boat cruises at the famous Kazinga channel which is the world’s longest natural canal can be done at Queen Elizabeth, the channel joins lake Edward and Lake George and is a source of water to various wildlife in Queen, during the boat cruise you will spot a lot of wildlife streaming at the shores and also see crocodiles and hippos close to your boat.
Bird watching
Queen Elizabeth national park is a number one birding destination in Uganda with over 600 species of birds recorded, some of the examples of birds found in the park include; Black-bellied Bustard, African crake, Rufous napped Lark, Palm-nut Vulture, Long-created Eagle, African fin foot, Red-chested Cuckoo, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Red-chested Cuckoo, Honey guide Green bul, Black Bishop, African Moustached Warbler, Brown Snake Eagle, Pallid Harrier, Saddle-billed Stork, Papyrus Gonolek, Pied Kingfisher and Caruthers’s Cisticola to mention a few.
Where to stay at Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth
When planning to visit the tree climbing lions of queen Elizabeth national park, one should book accommodation at the Ishasha sector of the park some of the lodges include; Ishasha wilderness camp, Ishasha jungle lodge, Enjojo lodge, tree climbing lions view lodge and many others.
