About Uganda

Flights

Sleep & Eat

Safaris &Tours

Leisure

Governance

Uganda Tourism

Cities & Towns

Useful Info

Find out More

[?] Subscribe To This Site

Carnivores in Wildlife of Uganda

Details about all Carnivores in Uganda National Parks and other animal Sanctuaries

In Uganda 38 carnivores have been identified with five subspecies, seven felines, three hyenas, ten mongooses, six mustelids and seven viverrids.

AFRICAN CIVET Civets are widely spread and common in most of Uganda’s national parks but not easily seen because of its secretive nocturnal habits. The African Civet is bulky, long haired with a cat-like face.

SPOTTED HYENA because of its distinctive hunting skills, the spotted hyena is capable of killing an animal as large as a Wildebeest.

In Uganda the spotted hyena is found in all Savannah national parks often seen in Queen Elizabeth National Park as well as Mgahinga forest but absent in Kidepo National Park.

The spotted hyena is bulky with a sloping back, dark brown spots and endowed with very powerful jaws that can crack through very hard bones and any kind of skin .

Hyenas’ lives live in loosely structured clans with a very fascinating social life. The female heads clans, which seem much stronger and larger than the male and according to research the spotted hyena is the most common member of the hunchbacked carnivores in Africa.

MONGOOSES ten species of mongoose have been recorded in Uganda with the banded mongoose regularly seen around the Mweya peninsular in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Click here if you have not visited Queen Elizabeth National park in Uganda

Species assumed to be in almost half of the National parks in Uganda include; Egyptian mongoose, Marsh mongoose, Slender mongoose, White tailed mongoose, Banded Mongoose.

OTTERS These aquatic carnivores are associated with most wet lands and appear in some areas in Lake Mburo National Park

Species identified in Uganda include; the darker spotted-necked otter smaller in size and very active between dusk and dawn, the cape clawless otter and the Congo clawless otter that are regarded to be the largest African otters.

LION King of the wilderness is the largest amongAfrican carnivores, lions appear naturally in most woodland and grassland habitats, common in certain parts of Murchison falls and Queen Elizabeth national parks and a healthy population of them in Kidepo national park though not present in .Lake mburo national park

Lions are sociable large cats living in loosely structured prides of 5-15 animals with one dominant male preventing a pride take over which may be fought for till death.Lions are more active during the night when they carryout their hunting activity that is dominated by the female, their favoured prey is the buffalo and a variety of antelopes.

African wild cat, this appears in most Savannah habitats in Uganda. Serval carnivores are widely spread in Uganda and loves to live in moister habitats ranging from woodland to forests. Its pale spotted coat makes it similar to the genet.

CHEETAH

Cheetahs are heavily spotted with greyhound-like build and distinctiveblack tear-marks. They are very fast animals capable of running 70kmhr however the least powerful among the large predators such that cheetah cubs are sometimes killed by other predators before they even reach three months.

Cheetahs live a solitary kind of life with the male jealously defending their territory in pairs and finding comfort in grassland and Savannah habitats. In Uganda cheetahs appear only within the Kidepo national Park vicinity.Click here to visit Kidepo National Park in Uganda if you haven't done so

SMALLER CATS these include several species like;Caracal, found only in Kidepo National Park, the caracal is medium-sized with a reddish brown coat, tufted ears and prefers the open habitats.

African golden cat widely spread in western Uganda and seen in every forested national park except Semliki National Park in Uganda

LEOPARD they are quite similar to the cheetah but can be differentiated from them by their rosette-shaped spots and are more powerfully built. They prefer wooded or rocky habitats and are present in most national parks in Uganda but regularly seen along channel drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Because of their solitary and secretive nature, leopards are rarely seen but often live in close proximity to humans and their prey and when caught the prey is put in safe custody of trees to prevent other predators from poaching on it.

BAT-EARED FOX

(Otocyon megalotis) belonging to the canidae family, the bat-eared fox is more associated with the dry open country it appears in only in Kidepo national park and Pain-Upe.They are often seen moving in pairs or small family groups during the cooler hours of the day.The bat-eared fox is small in size with astriking silver-Grey colour, huge ears and black eye-mask.

JACKALS the side-striped jackal is the most widely spread appearing in all four Savannah national parks including Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga and .Murchison falls national park

Also present in Uganda is the Black-backed Jackal appearing only in Kidepo National Park and Pain-Upe.Jackals are mostly Savannah habitats hunting a variety of birds and mammals and sometimes eat a variety of fruits and bulbs.

REPTILES

NILE CROCODILE

It is the largest living reptile that can grow up to the length of 6m. Nile crocodile was once very common on most large water bodies but it is now absent in most places because it was hunted villagers who had become its target prey and its beautiful skin.

Today the Nile crocodile carnivores are more confined to protected areas, a particular specie on the River Nile banks and also seen around Lake Mburo and Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Drinking and swimming mammals are their prey but basically feeding on fish, however a large crocodile is capable of killing a lion or an adult human being, it drowns its prey first, stores it under a tree until it is decomposed for better eating.