History of Murchison Falls National Park

The history of Murchison Falls is the story of Uganda's oldest and largest national park: named by explorers in the 1860s, protected as a reserve in 1926, made a national park in 1952, devastated by poaching in the 1970s and 1980s, and slowly restored since.

Explorers and a name

The explorers John Speke and James Grant reached the area in 1862. Samuel and Florence Baker explored it more thoroughly in 1863 and 1864 and named the falls after Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Royal Geographical Society. Read more in Seven Metres of Nile.

Protection: 1926 and 1952

The area was first gazetted as a game reserve in 1926, partly in response to sleeping sickness that had led to people being moved from the region. It became Murchison Falls National Park in 1952, making it Uganda's oldest national park as well as its largest.

Kabalega Falls

In the 1970s the government of Idi Amin renamed the falls and the park Kabalega, after the nineteenth-century king of Bunyoro who resisted British rule. The original name returned after Amin's fall, though Kabalega Falls is still sometimes used.

Collapse in the 1970s and 1980s

During the political turmoil of the 1970s and early 1980s, poaching devastated the park. Elephant numbers fell dramatically and rhinos disappeared from Uganda altogether.

Recovery

From the 1990s, the Uganda Wildlife Authority and conservation partners rebuilt protection and tourism. Elephant, buffalo and giraffe numbers have grown again, and the park now holds one of the largest elephant populations in Uganda. Rhinos are being bred at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary with the aim of returning them one day.

The park today

Today Murchison Falls is one of Uganda's most visited parks, and also home to an oil development project inside its boundaries. See Murchison Falls wildlife and plan your visit with the Murchison Falls guide.