Is There a Zoo in Kampala?

No. Kampala has no zoo of its own. Uganda's only zoo, the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, is in Entebbe, about 40 kilometres away on the road to the international airport. It opened in 1952 as a rescue centre for sick, injured and confiscated wild animals, and it still rescues and resettles hundreds of animals a year, from birds to primates.

What not to miss

Uganda Wildlife Education Centre began life in 1952, opened by the colonial government as a reception centre for wild animals found as casualties — sick, injured, orphaned, or confiscated from the illegal trade. In the early 1960s it became a traditional zoo and, briefly, kept non-native animals like bears and tigers as attractions; those are long gone. In May 1994 a dedicated trust took over the site specifically for conservation education.

Featured location Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Post Office Subward, Uganda WAZA Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, opened in 1952, is a zoo in Post Office Subward, Uganda. Its exhibits include Primates, Carnivores, Hoof Stock, Reptiles and Birds.

The animal list runs to rock pythons, cheetahs, leopards, lions, tortoises, giraffes, chimpanzees, elephants, rhinoceroses, ostriches and the shoebill stork, which the centre lists among its must-see birds. Its primates page names the Ruwenzori black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkey, patas monkey and olive baboon alongside the chimpanzees — and nearly all of those chimps are orphans confiscated from poachers rather than animals bred there. Birders get more than the headline animal list suggests: the centre describes itself as home to more than 250 bird species across forest, savannah, wetland and open-freshwater habitat, in a country with roughly 1,061 recorded species overall, about half of everything found in Africa.

A day visit is built around a one-kilometre forest walk, a chance to hear the lions roar, seeing the chimpanzees in a semi-natural setting, and encounters with what the centre calls its animal ambassadors.

The Centre's location on the edge of Lake Victoria, its rich vegetation and its surprisingly wide range of birds, butterflies and other indigenous animals make it an attractive venue for education as well as a pleasing one for those who visit

Getting there from Kampala

The Kampala-Entebbe Road runs about 40 kilometres from central Kampala to Entebbe International Airport, passing through Kibuye, Kajjansi and Abayita Ababiri. The centre itself is a short distance further, in Entebbe town, which sits about 6 kilometres from the airport on the same side as Kampala. So a Kampala-based day trip and an airport stopover cover almost the same ground either way.

Parking at the centre costs 2,000 UGX a day.

Tickets and hours

The centre opens every day of the week, 8:30am to 6:30pm. East African Community adults pay 20,000 UGX and children aged 3-14 pay 10,000 UGX; non-resident adults pay $15 and non-resident children pay $10; foreign residents pay $10 for an adult and $5 for a child.

If you want more than a walk-through, a Behind the Scenes Experience costs $70 for non-residents ($50 for foreign residents, or 50,000 UGX for Ugandans), a Chimp Close Up costs $290 for non-residents ($200 for foreign residents), and Keeper for a Day runs $150 for non-residents, $100 for foreign residents, or $50 for the junior version. The centre lends a wheelchair free of charge on request, and asks visitors to keep food and drink away from the free-ranging monkeys on the grounds.

If you'd rather stay over, on-site bandas run from 80,000 UGX (single, East African rate) to 230,000 UGX (family), or $40 to $120 at the non-East African rate, with breakfast an extra 15,000 UGX per person. There's also a 360-metre stretch of Lake Victoria beach on the grounds if you want to swim.

Other wildlife beyond the zoo

If the centre whets your appetite for Uganda's wildlife rather than settling it, the national parks are where most visitors go next — these aren't venues the directory lists, just useful context for the trip. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in the southwest, holds close to half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas. Closer to the capital, Lake Mburo National Park, about 240 kilometres west of Kampala, is home to zebra, hippopotamus, impala, warthog, eland and buffalo.