Albert Einstein once said, “look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.” The greatest mind of the 20th Century understood that humans are not separate from nature but a part of it. It’s the source from which all life springs.
Understanding nature is vital to understanding our planet – and our place in it. True understanding can’t be learned from books. Seeing inspiring wildlife like Uganda animals will bring the majesty of nature to life when you seek out safari animals in Uganda.
Seeing mountain gorillas, spotted hyenas, and bushbabies in their own habitat will make wildlife in Uganda come to life in a way that 1,000 nature documentaries never could.
If you’re thinking of undertaking a Uganda safari, here is some of the incredible wildlife in Uganda you can hope to see!
Those looking for Uganda animals often start with the Mountain Gorilla. Uganda is home to over half of the world’s wild gorilla population. Uganda is one of only three countries on Earth where mountain gorillas live, along with Rwanda and the Congo.
Mountain gorillas are some of the most epic and inspiring of all of the Uganda wildlife. Males can reach up to 6 feet in height and weigh up to 220 kg. One male Silverback gorilla can have a family of between five and 30 females and children, as well.
Seeing mountain gorillas in the wild is a truly life-altering experience. Gorillas are some of our closest relatives. Seeing them in the wild, mighty and free, will give you a whole new appreciation of the human experience.
It’ll also help you to see we’re not that different from the animals, after all.
As long as you’re visiting our relatives, you’ll want to see the common chimpanzees while you’re at it. These safari animals in Uganda are our nearest surviving relatives, sharing a staggering 98.7% of our DNA!
Chimpanzees live in complex and highly evolved societies. They communicate, problem solve, and even create tools. If you want to know where we come from, to have a better understanding of where we might be headed, it’s vital to understand chimpanzees. You can never truly understand a living thing unless you observe it in its natural environment.
Uganda is home to over 5,700 wild chimpanzees. This wildlife in Uganda includes one of the largest chimpanzee populations anywhere. This alone makes your Uganda safari a trip you’ll remember for the remainder of your lifetime.
Let’s take a turn from the primates for now. There are an incredible amount of iconic animals among the Uganda wildlife. This is especially true of the King of the Jungle, the Panthera leo.
Even if you’ve seen them in captivity, nothing can prepare you for the power of encountering a lion in the wild. It’s the height of epicness, as it’s so ingrained with images of the African savannah and such an iconic fixture of so many nature documentaries.
No matter how many times you’ve seen them on-screen, nothing can prepare you for an encounter with a lion in the wild. For one, they’re massive. Lions can range from 1.5 to 2 meters in length. They can also weigh up to 225 kg.
Seeing a pride of lions in the wild is beyond epic, as well. A grouping of lions can reach up to 30 members. Seeing these mighty and majestic wildlife in the wild raises something primordial in your blood, watching some of the mightiest mammals in Africa working together to hunt, feed, and protect their young.
There is nothing like hearing a lion’s roar ring out over the savannah, either! It’s an experience you’ll never forget!
Speaking of iconic animals, let’s close out our list of animals in Uganda with another of the most immediately recognizable. Hippopotami, lovingly referred to as hippos, are known to 2-year-olds and centenarians alike. There’s something so thrilling about seeing an animal you’ve known from your picture books come to life.
Hippopotami are impressive animals in their own right, of course. They can weigh up to 2600 kg, for one thing. They can be up to 14 feet in length, as well.
Don’t let their vegetarian diet fool you, either. Hippos are some of the most aggressive animals in the world when they’re protecting their terrain.
Male hippos, known as bulls, can have ferociously fierce territory battles with their protective tusks and teeth. You might even see one of these turf wars on your Uganda safari!
Seeing animals in the wild is one of the most surefire ways to cultivate a spirit of conservation and the love of nature. It creates a sense of connection and a deep, abiding love that is vital for preserving these treasures.
Hippos are currently vulnerable, with the risk of becoming endangered as their population is dropping to critical levels. Running across hippopotamus in the wild will drive home the fact that we need to preserve these majestic animals, for the sake of the entire world.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the animals you might see on your Uganda safari. Falling in love with the natural world is one of the most assured ways we have to preserve nature. It’s as conservationist Abhijit Naskar puts it, “If we don’t have a place for nature in our heart, how can we expect nature to have a place for us?”
Uganda is a paradise for animal and nature lovers. From elephants to gorillas to lions, Uganda animals are some of the mightiest and most epic anywhere on the planet.
If you’re ready to see some of the most life-changing wildlife you’ll ever encounter in their natural habitat, get a quote today!