Mahale National Park is an angelic destination of Tanzania most sought after when it comes to Chimpanzee, it is strategically situated in the western part of the country boasting a variety of ecosystems from the savannah vegetation to the mountain ranges of Mahale after which the park gets its name from, there growing miombo woodland is not to miss not forgetting the tropical rain forest. It is home tothe second place in Tanzania to find the chimpanzee, these live in habituated families of up to 100 members led by a male Alpha. Mahale is among the few places in East Africa where great apes co-exist with great predators. The park covers an area space of approximately 1615 square kilometres along the shores of one of Africa’s great lakes, Lake Tanganyika, it is the deepest of Lakes in East Africa and the world’s longest freshwater lake.
There is abundant wildlife in Mahale National Park, with several mammal species, amphibians, reptiles and birds, species present in the park include Chimpanzees, which are the most popular in the national park, they live within the park premises, the Primates have been scientifically proven to share up to 98% of the human DNA, they are social intelligent with the ability to use tools, for example, they know to use sticks to collect insects, and hunt small mammals for meat occasionally, despite them being herbivores. Chimpanzees live in communities and love to nest in the tree canopies. Other primates of the national park include yellow baboons, red colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and blue monkeys to mention a few.
The park is home to forest elephants, which have adapted to the nature of the mountains, they behave differently from those living in the savannah and tend to be smaller in size, other animal sightings include leopards, lions, buffaloes, duikers, waterbucks, forest hogs, among others, these are super rare to see however on lucky days travellers can get a chance of viewing most of the animal species.
There are over 350 species of birds that have been recorded in the national park, notable bird types include the Ross’s turaco, kingfishers, African fish eagles, and other various species, including migratory kinds that appear mostly in the wet season. A varietyof amphibian specieslike frogs, reptiles and other small mammals and insects live in the forested mountain area.
Wildlife in Mahale National Park presents the opportunity to do tourism activities in the park for example chimpanzee tracking, this begins in the early morning with a briefing from the park rangers on how to conduct yourself self while with the primates, it takes 2-3 hours doing the activity and an hour is allowed to interact with them, take pictures and return. Birding in Mahale National Park, hiking Mountain Mahale and cultural encounters of the people living around Mountain Mahale.
Mahale national park can be visited any time of the year but best during the dry season between December -February and June to September, this is the best time to visit the national park.