Pian Upe WIldlife Reserve

Established 1964

Previously declared as Debasien Animal Sanctuary

Geographical Location

Eastern Uganda, north of Mount Elgon and SOkm east of Scroti. I’SO’-I’IS’N, 34”34”05′-34°50’E. Altitude l,000-3,06Sm Area 231,400ha; connected to Matheniko Game Reserve (160,000ha) by the Bokora Corridor Land Tenure Government Physical Features This is a high plateau area of rolling plains with black cotton soil drained by intermittent watercourses flowing westwards into Lake Kyoga. Most of the area is subject to inundation during the rainy season. Mount Kadam (previously Mount Debasien) near the border with Kenya, is the highest point in the reserve at 3,068m. VegetatlonT Most of the area is wooded savanna grasslands with some forest in the north on the margins of a higher ridge.

Fauna

A large variety of mammals in the area include lion Panthera leo, leopard Pantheia pardus (T), cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (T), giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis, buffalo Syncerus caffer, waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus, Uganda kob Kobus kob, mountain reedbuck Redunca fuhorufula, roan antelope Hippotragus equinus, Jackson’s hartebeest Alcelaphus buselaphus Jacksoni, oribi Ourebia ourebi. Most of the eland Taurotragus oryx, topi Damaliscus lunatus, and zebra Eguus quaga borensis migrate into the area to breed from North Bokora and Matheniko reserves and migrate northwards when the rains begin. Birds include ostrich Struthio camelus, secretary bird Sagittarius serpentarius, and yellow-billed shrike Corvinella corvina (uncommon).