Kilimanjaro National Park protects the largest part of Mount Kilimanjaro, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site covering an area space of approximately 1668 square kilometres, the park is known for being the highest peak in Africa at 5895m above sea level, it is the only stand-alone mountain in the world straddling a few miles away from the equator and is snow-capped, the mountain is one of the 7 best summits to hike of the world, along the slopes is a lush green forest home to several wildlife species.
Wildlife in Mount Kilimanjaro National Park may not be as fascinating as that of the ecosystems of the northern circuit of Tanzania like the Serengeti National Park, but it is home to beautiful mammal species, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, most of the animal species live along the lower slopes of the mountain, the vegetation of the park is defined into distinctive zones from the cultivated zones, through rain forest, heath and moorland, alpine desert zone in the arctic zone. Animals survive a lot in the rainforest including nocturnal species popular species include African elephants, African buffaloes, pottos, bush babies, servals, hyenas, giraffes, tree hyraxes, black Rhinos, antelopes, klipspringer, elands, grey duikers, mongoose, porcupines, black and white colobus monkeys, to mention few. Most of the animal species live within the low zone of the park although some of these are known to extend to the moorland.
Wildlife in Kilimanjaro National Park consists of an incredible bird count over 150 species of birds have been recorded in the national park for example Vultures, buzzards, ravens, hornbills, flycatchers, abbot’s starling, African pittas, malachite sunbirds, mention a few, these are best seen during the wet season.
The best route of the park to see wildlife is along the northern circuit, which passes through the most beautiful places of the park that are untampered with, along this route are a few trekkers, the Lemosho and Machame route, these routes will take you through the gentle thick forest hence high chances ofseeing wildlife, despite animals being present in the national park they are still rare to see.
The best time to see wildlife in Kilimanjaro National Park is during the dry season between the months of December-February and June-September when the trails of the park are much drier and easier to access. Wildlife is best viewed on game drives, guided nature walks in the park through the well-distributed trials of the park, these are led by an experienced game ranger who is always armed for protection in the forest.
Besides viewing wildlife in mountain Kilimanjaro National Park, the best most sought-after activity of the national park is climbing the mountain Kilimanjaro, it is not hard to climb this mountain but rather its sloping steepy mountains makes it difficult, the climb takes 5-8 days to the summit. There is available accommodation in the park ranging from the best budget to luxury Facilities, these offer places to stay for travellers coming to view wildlife species of the national park.
In conclusion, Mount Kilimanjaro National Park is one of the best places to go to while in Tanzania it is one of the most visited biodiverse environments.