Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park In Rwanda, A Park Named After River Kagera

Akagera National Park in Rwanda comprises savannah, woodland, wetland, and a dozen lakes. It offers a beautiful view of the country’s wildlife and birds. The Big Five i.e. leopards, lions, elephants and Buffaloes, and other animal species like Zebras, impala, hippos, crocodiles, etc.

Akagera National Park was named after River Kagera also known as Akagera River which feeds several Lakes (Lake Gishanju, Lake Ihema, Lake Mihindi, Lake Rwanyakizinga, and Lake Shakani) within and around the park.

Wildlife In Akagera National Park

The park is Rwanda’s only savannah reserve and is again a Big Five destination after the recent reintroductions of lion and black rhino. Other animals include elephant, buffalo, giraffe and hippo. In terms of pure wildlife viewing, Akagera can’t quite compete with the more famous parks in Kenya and Tanzania. However, the park is very scenic and the birdlife is particularly rewarding.

Wildlife numbers are on the increase in Akagera National Pak and animals are slowly becoming less skittish (problems have included human encroachment and poaching). Buffalos are easily seen, and elephants are quite common. Leopards are around, but very secretive. Lions were reintroduced from South Africa in 2015 and there were 19 in the park as of early 2018, along with the same number of black rhino, which were reintroduced in 2017.

Scenery Of Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park is particularly scenic and offers a wide diversity of habitats in a small area. Visitors can drive along a string of forest-fringed lakes and wetlands fed by the Akagera River. Tall mountains form a lovely backdrop to the ever-changing vegetation, which includes papyrus swamps and acacia woodland.

Best Time To Visit Akagera National Park

Although Akagera National Park can be visited at any time, the best wildlife-viewing months are from June to September. This corresponds with the Dry season, when animals are drawn to the lakes as a source of water. At this time the bush is not as lush either, which makes spotting animals a bit easier.

The Big Five in Akagera National Park| Big 5

Akagera National Park officially became a “Big Five” park in May 2017. It now boasts thriving populations of lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo, as well as zebra, giraffe, and hundreds of bird species. Akagera National Park is the only national park in Rwanda with all the big five.

The most common throughout the park is the gracious impala, but the big herds of topi are of particular interest. Defassa waterbuck regularly graze around the lakes and bushbuck is a widespread resident in the woodland areas. Additionally, the lakes support some of the highest concentrations of hippos and large crocodiles on the continent.

Lakes In Akagera National Park

There are 10 lakes located within Akagera national park and these can be explored by visitors in the park. Some of the most commonly visited lakes in the park include Lake Ihema and Lake Shakani.

Primates

Of the primate family, olive baboons and vervet monkeys are common in Akagera. Far rarer is the secretive blue monkey that, until a few years ago, was believed to be extinct in the park.

Herbivores

Elephant, rhino, giraffe, and hippopotamus are the largest mammals found in the park. They join several naturally occurring large plains game species, including buffalo, topi, zebra, defassa waterbuck, the elusive roan antelope, and the statuesque eland. Smaller herbivores include duiker, oribi, bohor reedbuck, klipspringer, bushbuck, and impala. The endangered Masai giraffe was introduced to Akagera from Kenya in 1986, and the current population contains an estimated 78 individuals.

• • Elephants have always naturally occurred in Akagera, but poaching wiped them out until an initial reintroduction returned a young group of 26 individuals—all under the age of eight—in 1975. The founder population has since grown to roughly 100 individuals.
  • 2017 saw the historic return of 18 eastern black rhinoceros to Akagera—and Rwanda—after a 10-year absence. The first calves were born in 2018, and five black rhinos translocated from European zoos in June 2019 promise to boost genetic diversity.

counter-poaching canine unit, African Parks overhauled law enforcement to help secure Akagera National Park and, as a result, not one high-value species has been lost to poaching since 2010.

In 2017, 18 eastern black rhinoceros were reintroduced to Akagera, bringing the species back to the park and the country after a 10-year absence. The population was further supplemented by an additional five individuals translocated from European zoos in 2019.
Lions were reintroduced in 2015, and with the addition of two males in 2017 to increase genetic diversity, the population has since quadrupled.

More than 2,000 schoolchildren visit Akagera National Park each year, along with teachers and local leaders, as part of the environmental education programme.
By the close of 2019, Akagera was 90% self-financing, with revenue generated by almost 50,000 tourists, 50% of whom were Rwandan. Even though 2020 saw a 68% reduction in visitors due to COVID-19, Akagera continued to provide for the 300,000 people living on its boundary.