Uganda's wild rhinos were poached to extinction by the late 1980s. Ziwa is the reason that's no longer the whole story — a community-run sanctuary where southern white rhinos, reintroduced and now breeding, can be tracked on foot within a few metres.
By the late 1980s, poaching and civil unrest had wiped out Uganda's wild rhino population entirely. Ziwa, established in the mid-2000s by Rhino Fund Uganda, began with a handful of donated southern white rhinos in a protected sanctuary — a starting point for eventual reintroduction into the country's national parks.
Unlike most Uganda wildlife encounters, rhino tracking here happens on foot, following radio-collared animals with an armed ranger to a safe, guided distance. It's quieter and more intimate than a game drive, and considerably closer than most safari wildlife allows.
Sitting directly on the main Kampala–Gulu highway, Ziwa is the natural break on the drive north to Murchison Falls — but the breeding success here, now numbering in the dozens from that original handful, makes it worth the stop on its own merits.
Southern white rhinos, reintroduced after the species was poached to local extinction.
A quieter, closer encounter than a vehicle-based game drive.
Grown from a handful of donated rhinos to a breeding population in the dozens.
Managed by Rhino Fund Uganda with strong local employment and education programmes.
A natural stopover, not a detour, for anyone driving north.
The sanctuary's wetlands support a healthy variety of savanna and water birds.
Break the drive from Kampala to Murchison Falls with a 1–2 hour guided rhino tracking walk before continuing north.
Visitable year-round. Early morning tracking offers the coolest temperatures and the best chance of finding rhinos active and grazing.
Roughly a 3-hour drive north from Kampala on the main highway toward Gulu — directly on the route to Murchison Falls National Park, about 2 hours further north.
Uganda's last wild rhinos were poached out by the late 1980s. Ziwa is a community-run sanctuary reintroducing southern white rhinos in a protected, monitored environment, with the long-term goal of eventually releasing offspring back into Uganda's national parks.
Guided tracking is done on foot with an armed ranger, following radio-collared rhinos to within a safe, guided distance — closer and quieter than a vehicle-based game drive, and usually taking 1–2 hours round trip.
The sanctuary started with a handful of rhinos in the mid-2000s and has grown through natural breeding to a population in the dozens today, one of conservation's clearer reintroduction success stories in East Africa.
Yes — it sits directly on the main road between Kampala and Murchison Falls, making it a natural stopover rather than a dedicated overnight destination for most itineraries.
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