Lake Mburo National Park is a national park located in Nyabushozi County, Kiruhura District, Uganda.

Location

Lake Mburo National Park is located in Kiruhura District, in the Western Region of Uganda. It is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Mbarara and about 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of Kampala.

History

Lake Mburo was first officially set up in 1933 as a controlled hunting area and later changed to a game reserve in 1963. The area was home to the Banyankole Bahima people, who raised Ankole cattle and still do today. These residents continued to graze their cattle in the reserve, a practice criticized by some Western conservationists who called them "invaders" in 1981. However, the Banyankole were forced to leave their lands in 1983 when the area was upgraded to a national park, as some Western groups had hoped. The Obote government’s decision to upgrade the area was partly meant to weaken the Banyankole, who supported anti-Obote rebels. This change happened during the Ugandan Bush War, a time when the Operation Bonanza massacre killed about 300,000 people. Because the displaced pastoralists were not given money for their lost grazing land or help to resettle, many remained upset about the upgrade. The land outside the park was later divided into smaller areas for farming.

In 1985, the second Obote government fell, and the former residents of Lake Mburo returned to the park’s land. They drove out park workers, destroyed buildings, and harmed wildlife. By 1986, the National Resistance Movement government re-established less than half of the park’s original area.

Inside the park, there are places with cultural importance, such as Rubanga, where people once made sacrifices to gods; Ruroko, where the semi-mythical Bachwezi people lived; and Kigarama, where the king’s servants once stayed.

Wildlife

The park is home to zebras, hippos, impalas, warthogs, common elands, African buffalos, and more than 300 bird species. Predators in the area include lions, leopards, hyenas, genets, African civets, jackals, and servals. Since 2015, a group of Rothschild's giraffes has lived in the park.

The protected area was labeled a "lion conservation unit" by the IUCN in 2005, even though lions no longer live there. Lions were removed by local people in the 1980s, but in early 2015, a single lion was seen near Miriti, Kashara, Warukiri, and Rwonyo. This caused concern among local residents, who suggested moving the lion to a zoo. At the same time, park officials considered bringing lions back to the area. The lion attacked and hurt three people, leading the community to chase it with stones and sticks. The Uganda Wildlife Authority decided to kill the lion because the situation became dangerous. It is believed the lion came from Kagera Game Reserve in Tanzania.

A challenge for grazing animals in the park is the changing habitat. Many areas that were once grasslands have turned into bushveld or forest because of the spread of the native shrub Acacia hockii. This plant helps other trees and bushes grow more quickly and thickly. This increase in tree growth is pushing animals toward nearby ranches and private land, where they are seen as pests. The government has created controlled hunting areas for trophy hunting, but landowners say the money earned is being used for community projects like schools, health centers, and roads instead of solving issues caused by problem animals. Possible solutions include using an excavator for habitat management, changing how wildfires are handled, building fences, moving extra animals, creating wildlife ranches for hunting, developing community tourism, allowing more sport hunting companies, and increasing hunting limits. Local people are allowed to remove acacia trees for firewood, but this has not worked well. Hyenas and Cape bushbuck are considered problem animals.