Tree Climbing Lions of Ishasha in Uganda

The Climbing Tree The larger cats still found wandering the natural African landscape are the lions, of which Ugandans are a member.

By sustaining the population of herbivorous animals like buffaloes and several antelope species, lions contribute to the overall balance of the ecosystem. Additionally, lions help stop the spread of parasites and diseases by feeding on sicker and weaker animals.

With only about 25,000 lions remaining in the wild, the total number of lions in Africa has sadly declined significantly. Just a century ago, the savanna of Africa was home to over a million lions.

One significant fact regarding lions is that human Tree Climbing Lions in Ishasha intervention is the primary reason of their drastic decline in population. Lion territory has decreased due to an increase in human population as more land is made available for habitation and agricultural.

In addition, new diseases brought by more domestic animals nearby have killed lions, as has poaching. One of the last remaining lion strongholds in Africa is Uganda. Lions can be observed in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park and Kidepo Valley National Park.

Thirty-one of Uganda’s around four hundred lions can be located in Queen Elizabeth National Park, the country’s most popular park. Unlike, however, the drier Maraa in Kenya, the park receives good precipitation and maintains its beautiful appeal for much of the year.

The park is notable for its remarkable topography, which includes the Maramagambo woodland, Kazinga Channel, craters, and Kyambura Gorge, as well as its abundant birdlife and fauna, which includes the uncommon tree-climbing lion. which rank among Uganda’s top tourism destinations. Consider reading up on the top spots in the globe to observe lions.

Where in Africa can I observe lions that climb trees?

Rare are the adult tree-climbing lions. Once they get to a particular size, most lions avoid trees, unless they are in the middle of something dangerous, like a herd of buffalo, and climbing a tree is their only means of protection.

The Ishasha area of Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park and Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park are home to the majority of tree climbing lion populations. In South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, lone lions have also been observed scaling trees.

But as these are uncommon occurrences, they cannot be compared to those at Lake Manyara or Queen Elizabeth National Park. The finest area to see tree-climbing lions is Queen Elizabeth National Park, since a complete pride has been observed on a tree in Ishasha.

It is harder to find the tree-climbing lions in Lake Manyara, and there is no guarantee that you will find them.

To learn more about seeing one of Africa’s last surviving real wildernesses, please view our packages for a safari across the Congo. Additionally, we have put prepared travel packages to Rwanda that include information about the country’s stunning highlands, volcanoes, and mountain gorillas.

What makes certain lions climb trees?

The majority of lions favor ground living, saving tree climbing for their young or other smaller felines, such as leopards. The lions in Queen Elizabeth and Lake Manyara National Parks have, nevertheless, strayed from their typical habits and are observed lounging in the early afternoon under fig and acacia trees.

 What makes them act in this way if they are not a distinct subspecies?

This unusual behavior has been explained by a number of theories. There are others who think that, like all cats, lions are born climbers. Since they have sharp claws like all cats, climbing trees should not come as a surprise.

Some people think that the Ishasha lions have adopted this behavior from many generations of lion prides that came before them. According to some lion specialists, lions climb trees to escape being bitten by local pests and insects like mosquitoes and Tse Tse flies. Undererneath the surface. Additionally, the researchers think that during the dry season, lions climb trees to avoid the noon heat on the ground.

The cool air provided by the leaves and tree branches helps to relieve the intense midday heat. Lions may enjoy a good night’s sleep by scaling the fig and acacia trees, which also allows them to keep an eye out for rival lions, hyenas, and leopards as well as prey.

For whatever reason, the lions’ fascinating habit of climbing trees draws an increasing number of tourists to Queen Elizabeth and Lake Manyara National Park every year. The Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Ishasha Sector Parts of Queeen Elizabeth National Park are markedly different from the isolated plains of Ishasha. The plains are made up of mostly consist of riverine woods and savanna grasslands.

Few people truly visit Queen Elizabeth National Park to witness the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha, which is a testament to the park’s abundance of other attractions. The majority of park tourists head to the Mweya and Kasenyi plains, where they may easily go on nature walks in the Maramagambo forest, boat excursions along the Kazinga canal, and chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge.

After spotting the common prides of lions in the Kasenyi area, they are usually content. The fact that so few people are aware of these unusual animals’ existence may be one factor in the decline in visits. Many park visitors only learn about them after they have already embarked on a scheduled tour. Safari. It can be challenging to include visiting the tree-climbing lions into a scheduled safari. The Ishasha grasslands are home to four prides of lions.

The expected population residing in each of the four primary prides is fifty. In the plains, lions particularly like scaling the enormous sycamore fig and common acacia trees during the dry seasons. You are highly likely to spot lions in Ishasha since entire prides spend the day perched on trees. The park rangers keep an eye on their whereabouts and can quickly locate them upon request.

 It is possible to schedule a visit with the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha in addition to a safari through Queen Elizabeth National Park and other neighboring parks. Such as Lake Mburo and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. You can read more about our three-day gorilla safari in Uganda or our longer 12-day safari package in Uganda.

How to get to Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Ishasha area

The Queen Elizabeth Ishasha sector is accessible by air or car. An airstrip in Ishasha makes it possible to take a chartered flight straight to the park from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi near Kampala.

It takes roughly six hours to drive from Kampala or Entebbe to the park through Mbarara for those who want to explore the local towns en route and marvel at the Ugandan countryside. Access to Ishasha is also possible from the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest following a gorilla hiking. In Bwindi, the gorilla trekking trek takes two to three hours.

Where to watch lions that climb trees To reach to Ishasha, visitors via the Kampala Mbarara highway frequently take the Katunguru Mweya route in the park’s northern section. Although this route is shorter in the wet season, it is quite unpredictable. Heavy trucks also utilize this route, which causes the road to become potholed and muddy. It is crucial to check with the park officials before using this route to make sure it is passable.

While individual vehicle travel is feasible, foreign visitors may need to rent a car or rely on the trustworthy services of a tour operator or firm. It needs to be a 4X4 since because, depending on the time of year, the roads in this isolated area of the park are either muddy or dusty. Although the park authorities make every effort to repair the rugged roads, numerous sections of the road are damaged by heavy rains.

When planning their own safari, guests should work with a park ranger or hire a guide to assist with route selection and lion location. When you locate a group of them, be ready to witness them idly lounging on the trees while gazing out at herds of antelopes that are grazing. Most of the time, their bellies are stuffed from the previous night’s dinner, and some of them are having trouble getting into the tree limbs.

The lions lack the agility of leopards and you will undoubtedly see some people who are having trouble balancing when they go up or down the trees. Up to sixteen lions can be seen hanging on the same tree branches on a good day. You might wish to read more about gorilla trekking in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and specifically the One-Day Rwanda Gorilla Tour.

The ideal period to travel to Ishasha

Every year, tourists on a Uganda safari can explore Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Ishasha region. In Uganda, April, June, and July are thought to be the busiest travel months during the dry season. The park is less muddy and it is simpler to find the lions during this season, making it ideal for a safari.

The rainy months of April, May, October, and November are better for bird watching. Please check out our 11 days Uganda Wildlife safari package if you want to combine a game drive in Ishasha with other activities like the gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi or even Rwanda safaris.

Additional activities in the Queen Elizabeth National Park and Ishasha sector while the tree-climbing lions at Queen Elizabeth National Park are the main attraction, visitors can engage in a variety of other activities while visiting the Ishasha grasslands.

Cultural Visits:

You can ask to be given a tour of the Bakiga community while you are in Ishasha. A tour opportunity conducted by was introduced by the Ishasha community uplift initiative. Agartha, the woman. You will hear from Agartha and her female friends about the customs and culture of the Bakiga people.

You will visit individual cottages and homesteads in the area to discover how the locals cook (millet porridge, bananas, etc.). You can accompany the women to their gardens to assist in the millet harvest, flour grinding, and preparation into a ready meal.

You will learn from Agartha and her group of women what it means to be a Bakiga wife and how to look after your husband. You would have gained a great deal of knowledge about Bakiga culture and even been able to sample some of their strong local beer at the end of the tour.

Take a game drive to witness many animal species:

 The Ishasha plains are home to various smaller antelopes such as compact weavers, black coucals, and storks, as well as warthogs, buffaloes, elephants, baboons, and leopards. In order to witness some of the stunning wildlife in the Ishasha region, you can schedule a game drive.

If you have extra time, you can choose to have a nature walk in the Maramagambo forest or go on a wildlife drive in the Kasenyi plains/sector to see additional lions (do not climb trees). The stunning Kyambura gorge is also a great place to do chimpanzee trekking. Take a boat trip around the Kazinga Chanel if you have the time; you will see some of the greatest variety of birds and animals.

Take a boat trip around the Kazinga Chanel if you have the time; you will see some of the world’s greatest species of birds and wildlife there. Consider looking at our 10-day travel package across Uganda, which includes a gorilla safari and visits to several of the country’s greatest national parks.

The future of tree climbing lions in Ishasha

The tree-climbing lions of Ishasha are in risk of extinction. Humans who live close to the park pose the biggest threat to the lions. It was only recently that eleven dead lions from poisoning were discovered.

Pastoralists who had lost their domestic animals to the lions are thought to have poisoned the lions. The neighborhoods around the park occasionally lead their animals into the park during the dry season in search of water and grass. Along with other park animals, lions frequently venture outside the park’s boundaries and eventually come into touch with human settlements.

Large cats, particularly those that are cast out of their pride and during the dry season, find household animals to be highly appealing and simpler to capture. Some residents of the towns have resorted to setting up traps and snares for the large cats and poisoning them after they lose an animal to the lions.

Where can one find lions that climb trees?

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has made a concerted effort to guarantee that the park’s wildlife and the nearby inhabitants coexist together. UWA works to guarantee that the local communities gain financially from tourism by creating jobs directly for locals and returning 20% of tourism revenue to the community.

 In addition, the park organizes community awareness events about the value of lions to present and future generations and pays compensation to villagers who lose cattle to lions. In order to assist raise money for lion protection, the Uganda Carnivore Project developed lion tracking in Queen Elizabeth National Park. You might wish to visit our contact us page to learn more about our gorilla tour packages in Uganda and how to make reservations.

Where to stay when going to see the lions that climb trees

While there are many of excellent lodging options for travelers within Queen Elizabeth National Park, there are not many in Ishasha. Making a reservation in advance with it is highly suggested that you use your tour operator in Uganda, particularly during the busiest months like June.

Wilderness Camp:

Travelers who want to get away from it all and experience what it is like to live in the wild wilderness of Africa should make use of this facility. The camp is situated near the banks of the Ntungwe River, in a pristine and secluded area.

Ten opulent tents with exquisite decor, warm showers, spotless restrooms, and fresh mosquito nets are available at the camp. Several park species, including hippos, antelopes, elephants, and small primates, can be seen bathing and drinking near the riverbanks because the tents are facing the river. Colobus and vervet monkeys are a gorgeously decorated dining area beside the river.

The camp cooks meals that can be packed for guests who want to leave their accommodation to participate in activities on the plains of Ishasha. In the evenings, residents get together by the campfire to tell tales of their travels through Uganda.

Enjojo Lodge:

Facilities at Enjojo Lodge range from luxurious to mid-range. The lodge was constructed using native materials to create the impression that it is in the heart of an African wilderness. Every decoration is created by regional artists, many of them are from the surrounding areas. The cottages provide just enough comfort to let you unwind while anticipating the sector’s activities for the following day.

While residing at the resort, guests may observe animals wandering around freely the forty-acre holding. Lake Akanyanza offers residents of Enjojo Lodge a variety of fishing opportunities, including tilapia, catfish, and lungfish.