The Tree Climbing Lions of Ishasha Sector …
Ishasha is the best place in East African when it comes to the The Tree Climbing Lions of Ishasha – Queen Elizabeth Park – Tree Climbing Lions are a rarity, however in Ishasha you will find about 50 of them. There is not use looking for them in the trees at dawn since they normally do climb up until after the sun rises.
The Tree Climbing Lions of Ishasha – Queen Elizabeth National Park – a highlight of you Uganda Safari. You can find instances in South Africa or even Kenya where some young lions playfully venture up into trees – you can also find them in Tanzania at Lake Manyara but there they are hard to find –causing some visitors to think that they are only a rumor created by safari marketing people.
The best opportunity to see Tree Climbing Lions and not just the young ones but also Adult Lions is at Ishasha Plains of Queen Elizabeth Park. The Lions spend the day up in Trees. It is a most amazing sight – something that you cannot find in all of Africa except sporadically at Lake Manyara in Kenya. Bypassed by most tour companies on their way to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or to Mweya area in Queen Elizabeth Park.
The Ishasha Tree Climbing Lions are a rarity in all of Africa and since you are in Uganda – are in the Mweya region of the park or going to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – you can at least take one game drive along the Ishasha Plains – you will not see many vehicles here – this is off of the beaten track – and besides the Tree Climbing Lions, there is much wildlife that you will come across during your time in Ishasha such as vast elephant, buffalo herds and countless of antelopes. There are about 3 prides of lions in this region of the park – no accurate figure as to their number is available – but a good guesstimate is around 40 plus lions.
The Tree Climbing Lions prefer Sycamore Fig and Acacia Trees – Sycamore Fig Trees are the preferred trees of choice for tree climbing Lions of Ishasha – but the real question is why do the lions climb into trees for the day – especially during the rainy season?
Some think it is cultural ingrained others say the lions want to escape pestering insects – the main thing at Ishasha the lions can be found in the sycamore fig trees of Ishasha and rarely are they not spotted during a game drive in Ishasha – be sure that your tour operator engages a Uganda Wildlife Authority Guide who know more about finding the Tree Climbing Lions than your driver.
One other notable thing about the lions at Ishasha – the manes of the males are black.
Besides tree climbing lions you often see tree climbing leopards at Ishasha and we can include the tree climbing lions of Ishasha in any safari that includes Queen Elizabeth Park, especially if you are going for gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, than you pass by the Ishasha Plains. From Mweya to Ishasha it is only a two hour drive and you can easily go on a game drive in search of the tree climbing lions.
The Tree Climbing Lions of Ishasha are not be missed – a rare sight in all of Africa – but most often found at Ishasha and also in the remote Kidepo Valley Park in Northeast Uganda…
