Virunga National Park

Virunga National park is one of not the best with diversity in Africa. Almost more than half of what’s in Sub Saharan Africa in concentrated in this park.  This park also boosts of two active volcanoes.  Virunga national park though has for a long time been threatened by political conflicts in DRC but somehow its still surviving and was recently reopened. Established in 1925 by the then King of Beligium King Albert 1 and it was first called Albert national Park. It was primarily gazetted to protect the endangered Mountain Gorillas which can also be found in Uganda and Rwanda Only. After 1960 when Congo had gotten independence the park deteriorated just like the country and it was not until the early 70s when the president picked interest in conservation that the park was revived and renamed Virunga National Park. The park is about  7800 sq km and stretches from Virunga Mountains  in the South to the Rwenzori in the north. The park is well known for its bird, mammal and reptile concentration more than any other protected areas in Africa.  Some of the notables include the chimpanzees, mountain gorillas, giraffes, buffaloes and many others.

Virunga National Park is the oldest wildlife protected area on the African soil created to protect and conserve the unique wildlife species therein, for science and research purposes and protecting an indigenous threatened fruit-gathering community; the Twa. The Virunga wildlife conservancy is the joint where the West African rainforests meet with the East African savanna grasslands and runs more than 300 km (190 mi) along the Albertine rift that splits the African continent from north to south.