Mount Elgon National Park is a National Park in Kenya and Uganda that lies 140 kilometers (87 mi) northeast of Lake Victoria. The Park covers an area of 1,279 square kilometers (494 sq mi). The Ugandan part of the park covers 1,110 km2 (430 sq mi) while the Kenyan part covers 169 km2 (65 sq mi). The Kenyan part of the park was gazetted in 1968, the Ugandan part in 1992.
The Park is named after Mount Elgon, an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya.
Mount Elgon National Park is uniquely split down the middle by the Kenyan-Ugandan border. Mount Elgon is an important water catchment for the Nzoia River, which flows to Lake Victoria, and for the Turkwel River (known as the Suam River in Uganda), which flows into Lake Turkana. The climate is moist to moderate dry. Annual rainfall is over 1,270 millimeters (50 in).[3] The dry seasons run from June to August and from December to March, although it can rain at any time
The climate is moist to moderate dry. Annual rainfall is over 1,270 millimetres (50 in). The dry seasons run from June to August and from December to March, although it can rain at any time.
Elephants and buffalo frequent the lower slopes. The Park is also home to a variety of small antelope and duiker, as well as forest monkeys, including the black-and-white colobus and blue monkey. Red-tailed monkeys have been reported after being thought to be locally extinct. Both leopard and hyena exist there.
Mount Elgon is home to at least 144 bird species. Of particular interest are Jackson’s Spurfowl the eastern bronze-napped pigeon, Hartlaub’s turaco, the Tacazze sunbird and the endangered lammergeier, due to their restricted range.
Maathai’s longleg, an endangered dragonfly was discovered here in 2005 and named after Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai.
Half of Uganda’s butterfly species have been reported in Mt. Elgon