5/5 Sherif N. 2 years ago on Google
Together
with
the
adjacent
748
square
kilometres
(289 sq mi)
Bugungu
Wildlife
Reserve
and
the
720
square
kilometres
(280 sq mi)
Karuma
Wildlife
Reserve,
the
park
forms
the Murchison
Falls
The
park
straddles
the Ugandan
districts of Buliisa, Nwoya, Kiryandongo,
and Masindi.[2] The
driving
distance
from Masindi,
the
nearest
large
town,
to
the
Kibanda
area
of
the
national
park
is
about
72
kilometres
(45 mi).[4] This
area
is
about
283
kilometres
(176 mi),
by
road,
north-west
of Kampala,
the
capital
and
largest
city
of
Uganda.[5] The
coordinates
of
the
park
near
the
Kibanda
area
are
02°11'15.0"N,
31°46'53.0"E
(Latitude:2.187499;
Longitude:31.781400
The
explorers John
Speke and James
Grant were
the
first
Europeans
to
visit
the
present
day
MFCA
in
1862.
It
was
more
thoroughly
explored
by
Samuel
and Florence
Baker in
1863–4.
Baker
named
the
falls Murchison
Falls after
the
geologist Roderick
Murchison,
then
the
president
of
the
Royal
Geographical
Society.[7]
Between
1907
and
1912,
the
inhabitants
of
an
area
of
about
13,000
square
kilometres
(5,000 sq mi)
were
evacuated
due
to sleeping
sickness spread
by
tsetse
flies.
In
1910,
the
Bunyoro
Game
Reserve
was
created
south
of
the
River
Nile.
That
area
roughly
corresponds
to
the
part
of
the
MFNP
that
is
in
the
districts
of Buliisa, Masindi,
and Kiryandongo.
In
1928,
the
boundaries
were
extended
north
of
the
river
into
the
modern-day Nwoya
District.[3]
In
1952,
the
British
administration
established
the
National
Parks
Act
of
Uganda.
The
area
described
above
became
Murchison
Falls
National
Park.[3]
The
park
is
the
location
of
the
Murchison
Falls,
where
the
waters
of
the Nile flow
through
a
narrow
gorge
only
7
metres
(23 ft)
wide
before
plunging
43
metres
(141 ft).
Also
in
the
park,
adjacent
to
the
Masindi-Gulu
Highway,
are
the
Karuma
Falls,
the
location
of
the
600
megawatt Karuma
Power
Station,
which
will
be
Uganda's
largest
power
station
when
it
comes
online
circa
2022.[8]
MFCA
and
the
adjacent
Bugondo
Forest
Reserve
have
76
species
of
mammals
as
well
as
Uganda's
largest
population
of Nile
crocodiles.
There
are
450
known
bird
species
in
the
park,
including
the
rare shoe-billed
stork, dwarf
kingfisher, Goliath
heron, white-thighed
hornbill and great
blue
turaco.[9]
Since
2005,
the
protected
area
is
considered
a Lion Conservation
Unit.[10] In
2010,
it
was
estimated
that
only
250
giraffes
were
in
the
park.
A
population
of
37 Rothschild's
giraffes was
transferred
from
the
north
side
of
the
Nile
River
to
the
south
side
in
2016
and
2017,
when
population
was
around
1,500.[
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