Gishwati Mukura National Park

Gishwati Mukura National Park ranks as the fourth national park in Rwanda. Mukura National Park was combined with Gishwati forest to perform a national park currently known as Gishwati Mukura National Park.

Location 

The Mukura National Park is located in Rutsiro district, the northwestern part of Rwanda.

About Gishwati Mukura Park

Covering around 16000 hectares, the Mukura National Park was transformed into a national park in the first of February 2016, after the Rwandan government passed a law to create a new national park combining the Mukura and Gishwati forests. 

Gishwati-Mukura National Park spreads from up in the north of the country near the Volcanoes National Park, all the way down, incorporating the Gishwati and Mukura forests, to Nyungwe Forest. 

The main reason to establish the Gishwati Mukura National Park was to restore natural forests, plant natural forest by introducing the tree species and protect buffer zone plantations. 

Wildlife of Gishwati Mukura Park

Gishwati Mukura National Park will offer incredible biodiversity, providing a corridor for free movement of primates. The park includes a lot of animal species, around 293 reptile species, and around 1000 bird species. 

It is also home to 5,793 plant species , 60 tree species, including indigenous hardwoods and bamboo. 

Animals

Wildlife sightseeing is possible as they support various wildlife animals, some of them that you can see are southern tree hyrax, black-fronted duikers, Red River hogs, besides chimpanzee and other animals such as the mountain monkey, golden monkey, black and white colobus monkeys, and the blue monkeys.  

Birds 

Bird watching is one of the great activities that can be done in Gishwati Mukura National Park. The forests are a home to many species of beautiful birds, 232 species have been seen at Gishwati and 163 at Mukura, seven of Albertine rift endemic species and two have been listed on IUCN.