Queen Elizabeth National Park is the second largest national park in Uganda after Murchison falls national park. Queen Elizabeth national park is located in Albertine rift in the western Arm of East, located in Western Uganda and was established in 1952. In Uganda, it is where lion tracking is done. The park was gazetted in 1952 as Kazinga Channel national park and renamed Queen Elizabeth in 1954 after the visit of Queen Elizabeth to commemorate her visit. Queen Elizabeth national is endowed with a stunning landscape comprising of vast savannah grasslands, woodlands, plains, crater lakes, gorges, escarpment, forests and the Rwenzori Mountains in the background. The Equator line crosses with in the park at 0o. Queen Elizabeth National Park has 95 mammals including the 4 of the big 5 which include elephants, leopards, lions, and buffaloes and over 600 species of birds. Lion Tracking in Queen Elizabeth NP is done all year round and it gives you the perfect opportunity to track the lions to its hide out. This gives 100% chance of spotting these wild cats.
Activities that take place in Queen Elizabeth include; game drives, boat cruise, nature walk, birding, chimp trekking, lion trekking among others.
Lion tracking
Queen Elizabeth National Park harbors prides of lions majorly found in Kasenyi plains a mating ground for Uganda cobs, Mweya peninsular and tree climbing lions found in Ishasha sector making lions tracking a famous and adventurous tourism activity. Queen Elizabeth is most famous for having the largest population of tree climbing lion in the world found in Ishasha plains in the southern part of the park that are normally sighted hiding in large fig trees.
Lion tracking in Queen Elizabeth NP involves following an individual or a pride of lions in order to learn more about their behavior, feeding habits and social/group dynamics. It’s a scientific exercise that is always done together with a Research Expert and UWA ranger guide. Lion tracking largely happens in Mweya Peninsular where the Research Expert is resident. To take part in the Lion tracking experience, booking in advance is key either through Uganda Wildlife Authority or a reliable Tour Operator. As Per the current UWA tariff, lion tracking costs $60 per person for international tourists and 100,000 Uganda shillings for citizens of East Africa. The price doesn’t include park entrance which means the client has to add 40$ as park entrance fees. There is a limit to the number of people who may participate in the activity which is not more than 4
Lion tracking has three sessions in a day; early morning, afternoon and night sessions each session lasting between 2 to 3 hours. If you are booked for any of the sessions, you need to arrive on time at least 15 minutes before to get the briefing from the Researcher
With technological advancement, Lion tracking in Queen Elizabeth national park has been made possible. There is use of A radio collar which is fitted on the dominant lioness of a pride. Male Lions are not chosen because they keep moving around the pride in order to mark their territories and thus not reliable for successful lion tracking. Lionesses stay with the main group enabling researchers to monitor all the other lions including the cubs and alpha males. Once she is identified, a tranquilizer is used make it unconscious in order to put a collar around the lion’s neck for easy tracing during lion tracking. A lioness that is not pregnant, old enough and in good health is always preferred. While installing the collar, the researchers must ensure that the collar is loose enough and comfortable to ensure that the cat doesn’t get stuck while passing through thick vegetation. The lioness takes about 2 days to get used to the collar.
The battery powered collars send radio frequencies which are read by a GPS system to point at the exact location of the lions every time the frequency is dialed. The tracking device makes a beeping noise which intensifies when the lion is close. Lions move a lot especially if game to feed on is scarce. If there is enough prey, their range can be 40 square kilometers. In areas of game scarcity, their territory can reach up to 400 square kilometers. The radio collars enable researchers to track the lion prides movement and also know their health that is; if they are sick or under threat from communities living close to the park.
As part of the lion tracking in Queen Elizabeth NP, the Researchers will share information about the prides’ biology, habitats and threats. You will learn the lifespan of a lion which is about 12 years. Lioness do most of the hunting and males largely depend on what lioness catch. The male’s role is to protect the family and ensure that no intruders come into their territory. A lioness gives birth to 3 cubs on average.
During Lion tracking, the driver is allowed to drive off the main road and go deep into the savannah depending on the location of the lions as opposed to game drives where the driver is restricted from off tracking but rather stick to the game drive track. Once the team is close to the lions, the driver switches off the engine to avoid chasing away the cats. If you are lucky you might witness the researcher collecting DNA, blood, urine, saliva, ticks and other samples from the lions after the tranquilizer is applied.
Encountering the whole pride of lions is a rare opportunity which gives you chance to observe a lion family up-close. You will watch the juveniles play in the midst of resting adults. Lions use different vocal signs to communicate to their fellow pride members of their location. Lions are territorial animals. The dominant male marks his territory by creating holes using his hind legs, rubbing his mane on shrubs or urinating around the main trees in his territory
Getting to Queen Elizabeth national park
Through the Tarmac road from Kampala through Mbarara which is approximately 420KM or through Mubende-Kasese approximately 410KM.
It can also be accessed by air landing at Mweya airstrip through organising with one of the local flights from Kajjasi air strip or Entebbe International airport.
Other tourism activities;
After lion tracking, you can enjoy other tourism activities including boat cruise along Kazinga Channel, chimp trekking in Kyambura gorge, nature walk along Mweya peninsular or nyamusigiri where it will lead you to a at cave. You can visit Katwe Salt Lake and observe how salt is locally extracted from the lake. You can also make your way to Bwindi impenetrable national park for gorilla tracking.
