| Kidepo Valley National Park | |
| Iucn Category: | II |
| Location: | Karenga Karamoja, Northern Region, Uganda, Uganda |
| Coordinates: | 3.9°N 84°W |
| Area Km2: | 1442 |
| Established: | 1958 |
| Named For: | from the Mening or Ketebo verb Kidebo, meaning ‘Help us |
| Operator: | Uganda Wildlife Authority |
Kidepo Valley National Park is a 1442km2 national park in the Karamoja region in northeast Uganda. Kidepo is rugged savannah, dominated by the 2750m (9,020feet) Mount Morungole and transected by the Kidepo and Narus rivers.
Kidepo Valley National Park is located near Karenga in Kaabong District, in the northeastern corner of Uganda. The park is approximately 220km (140miles), by road northwest of Moroto, the largest town in the sub-region. It is approximately 520km (320miles), by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[1]
The northwestern boundary of the park runs along the international frontier with Bira, South Sudan and abuts against its Kidepo Game Reserve.[2]
The Ketebo or Mening are the original inhabitants of the area, who had been living here since 1800. It was gazetted as a game reserve by the British colonial government in 1958, and the people were evicted. The purpose was both to protect the animals from hunting and to prevent further clearing of bush for tsetse fly-control.[3] [4] The eviction of the resident people and the resultant famine, especially the Ketebo people who were forcefully relocated to other areas within Bira such as Napotpot, Kalo Kudo, Namosingo, Loriwo and Naurkori in South Sudan, was cited by park management as an example of the unacceptable consequences of not taking community needs into account when designating reserves.[5]
The newly independent government of Uganda under Milton Obote converted the reserve into the Kidepo Valley National Park in 1962. The first chief warden of the park was Ian Ross, a Briton. In 1972, Paul Ssali, a Ugandan, replaced him. Their handover and training was the subject of the 1974 American documentary film, "The Wild and the Brave."[6] [7]
The park consists of the two major valley systems of the Kidepo and Narus Rivers. The valley floors lie between and AMSL.[8]
Kanangorok (also spelled Kananorok or Kanatarok) is a tepid hot spring in the extreme north of the park, in Lotukei, South Sudanese boundary. This spring is the most permanent source of water in the park.
The soil in the park is clayey. In the Kidepo Valley, black chalky clay and sandy-clay loam predominate, while the Narus Valley has freer-draining red clays and loams.[3]
Most of the park is open tree savannah. Because of differences in rainfall with annual averages of in Narus and in the Kidepo valleys, vegetation and animal populations vary between the two valleys.[9]
Narus is a name given by the Ketebo or Mening or Amening Clan which were the people living in the Valley.[3] Primary grasses in the Narus Valley are the shorter red oat grass and taller bunchy Guinea grass and fine thatching grass.[8] Common trees in the drier areas are red thorn acacias, desert dates, and to a lesser extent drumstick trees. Sausage trees and fan palms line the water courses.[8] Euphorbia candelabrum and the shorter monkey bread and Buffalo thorn trees are also present.Perennial water makes River Kidepo an oasis in the semi-desert which hosts over 86 mammal species including spotted hyena, lion, cheetah, African leopard, African wild dog, African bush elephant, giraffe, zebra, African buffalo, bat-eared fox, Rothschild's giraffe, and almost 500 bird species.[10]
Streams in the Kidepo Valley are dotted with palms, whereas whistling thorn acacia bushes are growing in higher elevated areas.[3]
The park is managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The USAID as of August 2013 was financing the improvement of roads within the park.
The administration of the park is led by a Chief Warden. This position has been held by the following wardens:
ODUR first black African to be chief park warden managed Kidepo in the 1960s before Paul Ssali
Edward Asalu as chief park wardenCapt. John Emille Otekat also worked as chief park warden
In the fiscal year 2009-2010 Kidepo received USh 294 million (US$129,000 or €99,000 as of August 1, 2010) from 2,100 visitors. By the 2012-2013 fiscal year this had grown to USh 466 million ($178,000 or €134,000 as of August 1, 2013) from 2300 visitors.[18]
During the 1960s Kidepo had a sustainable Rothschild giraffe population of over 400 animals. By 1992 this had been poached down to only three animals, including a single female. In 1997 Warden Peter Möller obtained funding from the Frankfurt Zoological Society to translocate giraffes from Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park. One female died in the holding facility in Lake Nakuru. Two females and one male were flown to Kidepo. In Kidepo one male was eaten by lions shortly after being released.[19]