Mainly a chimpanzee sanctuary, Mahale is on the shores of Lake Tanganyika about halfway down the lake. The highest peak in the park, Nkungwe ensures that moist air blowing in from the lake condenses there and falls as rain. This rain supports extensive montane forests, grasslands and alpine bamboo. The animals which live in this park show closer affinities with western rather than eastern Africa. They include chimpanzee, brush-tailed porcupine, various species of colobus monkey, guinea fowl and mangoese. Scientists, mainly from Japan, have been studying the chimpanzees for 20 years, during which time more than 100 of the animals have been habituated to human contact. The population have been dramaticully increased since 1975, when local people were moved to villages outside the park, this putting a stop to poaching and field-burning activities. This relocation has also led to the reapperance of leopard, lion and buffalo, which were never seen in the past. Mahale is a park for walking only.
