How Akagera Got the Big Five Back

How Akagera got the Big Five back is one of Africa's conservation success stories. Within two decades, Rwanda's only savannah park went from losing its large predators to being a Big Five destination again, under a partnership between the Rwanda Development Board and the conservation organisation African Parks.

The park

Akagera National Park lies in eastern Rwanda along the Tanzanian border. It is a landscape of rolling savannah, acacia woodland, papyrus swamps and a chain of lakes fed by the Akagera River, very different from the volcano forests in the west of the country.

Decline

In the years after 1994, large numbers of returning people settled in and around the park, and parts of it were given over to farming and grazing, reducing its area. Lions were wiped out, and the black rhino disappeared. By the early 2000s, Akagera was a shadow of what it had been.

A new partnership

In 2010, the Rwanda Development Board and African Parks agreed to manage Akagera together. The work that followed included a perimeter fence along the western boundary to reduce conflict between wildlife and farms, stronger law enforcement against poaching, and investment in tourism so that the park could pay for itself and benefit neighbouring communities.

The returns

• 2015: lions were reintroduced, the first in Rwanda for many years. The population has since grown.
• 2017: eastern black rhinos were brought back, making Akagera a Big Five park again.
• 2021: white rhinos followed.

Elephant, buffalo and leopard had survived in the park throughout, and plains game recovered as protection improved.

Akagera today

Today Akagera offers game drives across the northern plains, boat trips on Lake Ihema, night drives with park guides and walks on the boundary. Visitor fees support the park's running costs, and the park works with neighbouring communities on employment and education.

Visiting

Akagera is about two and a half hours by road from Kigali, and two nights is enough for a full day of game drives and a boat trip. It combines well with gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park. See our 3-day Akagera safari, or the 7-day Rwanda safari that adds Nyungwe and the gorillas.

When to visit

Akagera is lower and warmer than the rest of Rwanda. The long dry season, June to September, is the best time for game viewing: vegetation thins and animals gather near the lakes. The park is open all year, and the green months are quieter and lush.

Where to stay

Most visitors stay in camps and lodges along the lakes, which puts boat trips and the lakeside wildlife close by. The remote north of the park, near Lake Rwanyakazinga, is quieter still and closer to the plains where lions and rhinos are most often seen. See lodges in Akagera.

A day in Akagera

Most days start early with a drive north towards the plains, where giraffe and zebra graze and lions are often found in the cool of the morning. By late morning you return to the lakes for lunch and a rest. In the afternoon, a boat trip on Lake Ihema passes hippos, crocodiles and fish eagles. After dinner, a night drive with a park guide looks for animals rarely seen by day.