Kidepo Valley National Park

Description

Kidepo Valley National Park is a 1,442 square kilometres (557 sq mi) national park in the Karamoja region in northeast Uganda. Kidepo is rugged savannah, dominated by the 2,750 metres (9,020 ft) Mount Morungole and transected by River Kidepo and River Narus.

Kidepo Valley National park is located in Kaabong District, in the northeastern corner of Uganda. The park is located approximately 220 kilometres (140 mi), by road northwest of Moroto, the largest town in the sub-region. Its location is approximately 520 kilometres (320 mi), by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of Kidepo are:03 54N, 33 51E (Latitude:3.9000; Longitude:33.8500).

The Kidepo Valley National Park was established in the 1960s under the first rule of Milton Obote (1962 - 1971). The forcible eviction of the Ik people out of the fertile Kidepo Valley contributed to a famine among the Ik. In contemporary protected area management, this case is often used as an example of the unacceptable consequences of not taking community needs into account when designating reserves.

Perennial water makes River Kidepo an oasis in the semi-desert which hosts over 86 mammal species including lion, cheetah, leopard, bat-eared fox, giraffe — as well as almost 500 bird species.