Rwenzori Mountains National Park

East Africa > Uganda > Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Summary

• Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are present in Rwenzori Mountains National Park.
• It has been estimated that 231 individuals occur in the site.
• The population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 996 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are illegal logging, bushmeat hunting, and illegal resource harvesting.
• Conservation activities implemented include conducting anti-poaching patrols.

Site characteristics

Located in western Uganda, Rwenzori Mountains National Park comprises part of the Rwenzori mountain chain, including Africa's third highest peak, Mt Stanley's Margherita Peak at 5,109 m above sea level (UNESCO). The park is contiguous with the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (BirdLife International 2020). The region's glaciers, waterfalls and lakes make it one of the most fascinating afro-alpine areas.The park is known for its rich and unique flora; some of the world's rarest vegetation can be found here (UNESCO). Some unusual flora found here include the giant heather, and two species of forest tree, Hypericum bequaertii and Schefflera polysciadia, which are only known from Rwenzori (BirdLife International 2020; Uganda Wildlife Authority). In addition, the site is home to 70 mammals and 217 bird species, including 19 Albertine Rift endemics (UNESCO; BirdLife International 2020). Twenty-five invertebrate species from the area have been described in the last 15 years (BirdLife International 2020). Mammal species of conservation concern include the Rwenzori duiker (Cephalophus rubidus), forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), Ruwenzori colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii) and L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l’hoesti); subspecies of blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) and rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) are only known from Rwenzori Mountains National Park (BirdLife International 2020).

Henry Stanley, an explorer, placed the Rwenzori in the map in 1888; he documented "Ruwenzori" as a local name meaning “rain-maker” or “cloud-king” (Uganda Wildlife Authority). Before that, the Rwenzoris were named “Mountains of the Moon” by the Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy in AD 150 (Uganda Wildlife Authority). Much later, in 1941, the site was declared a Forest Reserve; in 1991 it was gazetted as a National Park, and in 1995 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Uganda Wildlife Authority). The park was designated as a Ramsar Site in 2008. The Rwenzori mountains are not volcanic, as other major mountains in East Africa, but they are a block of rock up-faulted through the floor of the Western Rift Valley. The site has been long known by mountaineers. The oldest person to reach Marguerita Peak was Ms. Beryl Park, aged 78 in 2010 (Uganda Wildlife Authority).

Table 1. Basic site information for Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Area	996 km²
Coordinates	0.363517 N, 29.949944 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest, rocky areas (e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks), wetlands (inland) – permanent rivers/streams/creeks (includes waterfalls)

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii	2000	500	0.506		Rwenzori Mountains National Park	Reconnaissance walk	Makombo 2017
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii	2010	384	0.385		Rwenzori Mountains National Park	Line transects	Makombo 2017
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii	2016	231			Rwenzori Mountains National Park	Chimpanzee sightings	Makombo 2017

Threats

The main threats to the park are illegal logging, bushmeat hunting, and illegal resource harvesting, especially of bamboo (UNESCO).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Hunting for bushmeat (UNESCO).	Ongoing
	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Harvesting plants, especially bamboo (UNESCO).	Ongoing
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Illegal logging (UNESCO).	Ongoing
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Anti-poaching patrols are conducted at the site (UNESCO).	Ongoing
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site was designated as a National Park in 1991.	Ongoing
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Recent climate-driven ecological changes in tropical montane lakes of Rwenzori Mountains National Park, central Africa
Looking for Medium-term Conservation and Development Impacts of Community Management Agreements in Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Rwenzori Mountains National Park UNESCO
Uganda Wildlife Authority
Rwenzori Mountains National Park Ramsar

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

BirdLife International. (2020). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Ruwenzori (Rwenzori) Mountains National Park. Retrieved from http://www.birdlife.org on 16/12/2020.
Makombo, J. (2017). State of Conservation Report for Rwenzori Mountains National Park World Heritage Property – Uganda. World Heritage Centre, UNESCO.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 30/12/2020