Nyungwe forest National Park camouflaged in an enormous tropical forest consisting of a variety of tree species like the tall old mahoganies, ebonies and giant tree ferns tower above you, whilst orchids and other epiphytes cling to every branch. To the park more enjoying, there is an introduction of the canopy walk which is one of the new and wonderful birds viewing plat form in East and central Africa.
Nyungwe is most famous for its primates. Other tourist attractions to see on a primate safari in Nyungwe forest National Park include brightly coloured birds flit around, butterflies are everywhere, and walking quietly you may encounter larger forest residents.
Nyungwe Forest is, in fact, the largest swathe of montane forest left in East or Central Africa. It harbours about 275 different birds, hundreds of butterflies and orchids, and over 75 different species of mammals – including 13 primates about a quarter of all Africa’s primates.
Chimpanzees of Nyungwe
The Rwandan chimp population of at least 500 individuals is now thought to be confined to Nyungwe national park (including a small community in the Cyamudongo Forest), but it remains faintly possible that a small population recorded in the early 1990’s in the more northerly and badly degraded Gishwati forest still persists.
During the rainy season, a troop of chimpanzees often moves into Uwinka and the coloured trail as well, and it is up to you to decide whether to pay extra to track them.
You will here them before you see them; from somewhere deep in the forest, an excited hooting, just one voice at first, then several, rising in volume and tempo and pitch to a frenzied unified crescendo, before stopping abruptly or fading away.
Unlike most other primates, chimpanzees don’t live in troops, but instead form extended communities of up to a hundred individuals, which roam the forest in small socially mobile sub groups that often revolve around a few close family members such as brothers or a mother and daughter. Male chimps normally spend their entire life within the community into which they were born, where as females are likely to migrate into a neighbouring community at some point after reaching adolescence.
Other primates of Nyungwe Forest
Apart from the chimpanzee there are 11 more species of primates in Nyungwe Forest. With a bit of luck, these primates can be seen during any hike in the park. In case you want to find a specific species, then this can be organized by the park. Some primates such as the galago and potto are nocturnal and can only be seen at night.
There are also almost 100 other mammal species in Nyungwe Forest ranging from small dykers to leopards. For an extensive list and description of other species in Nyungwe Forest, go to the page Animals of Nyungwe Forest or Birding in Nyungwe Forest. There is also a comprehensive guide on Primate Tracking in Nyungwe Forest.
Nyungwe’s Monkeys
The thirteen primate species which occur in Nyungwe represent something like 20-25% of the total number in Africa, a phenomenal figure which in east Africa is comparable only to Uganda’s Kibale forest. Further more, several of these primates are listed as vulnerable or endangered on the IUCN red list, and Nyungwe is almost is almost certainly the main stronghold for at least two of them.
The most celebrated of Nyungwe’s primates is the Ruwenzori colobus a race of the more wide spread Angola colobus which is restricted to the Albertine Rift. The Ruwenzori colobus is highly arboreal and acrobatic leaf-eater, easily distinguished from any other primate found in Nyungwe by its contrasting black over all colour and snow-white whiskers, shoulders and tail tip. Although all colobus monkeys are very sociable, the ones in Nyungwe are unique in so far as they typically move in troops of several hundred animals. A semi-habituated troop of 400, resident in the forest around the campsite, is though to be the largest troop of arboreal primates anywhere in Africa- else where in the world, only the Chinese golden monkey moves in groups of a comparable number. Most of the other monkeys in Nyungwe are guenons, the collective name for the taxonomically confusing cercopithecus genus.
Other types of monkeys in Nyungwe National Park are the L’Hoest’s monkey, Silver monkey, golden monkey, Owl faced monkey, red tailed monkey, Dent’s Mona monkey, crowned monkey, Vervet monkey, and Olive baboon which is a savanna monkey that is occasionally seen along the road through Nyungwe, Grey-cheeked mangabey is an arboreal monkey of the forest interior.
In addition to the chimpanzees and monkeys, Nyungwe harbors four types of prosimian, small nocturnal primates more closely related to the lemurs of Madagascar than to any other primates of the African main land. These are three species of bush baby or galago (group of tiny, hyper active wide – eyed insectivores) and the sloth – like potto. All are very unlikely to be encountered by tourists.
Other Animal Life
Apart from primates, Nyungwe foresnt national park also host other mammals include; Giant Forest Squirrel, Mountain Sun Squirrel, Boem’s Squirrel, Lord Darby’s Flying Squirrel, Giant Forest Hog, Bush Pig, Tree Hyrax, Lestrade’s Duiker, Black-fronted Duiker, Yellow-backed Duiker, Leopard, Golden Cat, Serval Cat, Wild Cat, Side-striped Jackal, African Civet, Two-spotted Palm Civet, Genet Servaline, Large-spotted Genet, Slender Mongoose, Marsh Mongoose, Ichneumon Mongoose, Congo Clawless Otter and many more.
Birds
Whether you are an ardent bird watcher or an amateur, Nyungwe National Park offers enthusiasts a fantastic variety of species including the great blue turaco, the paradise monarch and the bizarre appearance of the gigantic forest hornbills. The priority of serious enthusiast will depend to a certain degree on their experiences elsewhere in Africa. For instance at least half of the species will be new to visitors from southern Africa, whereas the 24 species endemic to the Albertine Rift will be the most appealing for those who have already experienced east Africa.
Birds in Nyungwe forest National park include, all the 25 species of the Albertine Rift mountains Endemic Bird Area that occur in Rwanda, Chapin’s Flycatcher and Rockefellers’s Sunbird (both globally threatened, restricted-range and biome-restricted). In addition, 11 of the 23 species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome and 71 of the 74 species of this biome of Afrotropical Highlands that occur in Rwanda have been recorded at this site.
Nyungwe holds many Albertine Rift endemics, including seven of the 12 species of Soricidae, one species of bat, Rousettus lanosus, two species of squirrels, Funisciurus carruthersi and Heliosciurus ruwenzori, five of the 12 species of Muridae and the chameleon Chamaeleo johnstoni. An amphibian is endemic to Nyungwe, the caecilian Boulengerula fischeri. Two species of butterfly are endemic to Nyungwe Bebearia dowsetti and Acraea turlini while Papilio leucotaenia, restricted to a small area of the Albertine Rift, occurs commonly in Nyungwe.