Attractions in Ruma National Park

Exceptional Birdlife in Ruma National Park-Kenya

Ruma National Park-Kenya is the only protected area in Kenya where the universally threatened Blue Swallow, a scarce intra-African migrant, is regularly recorded. Blue Swallows arrive in Kenya from their breeding grounds in southern Tanzania around April and depart in September. They depend on moist grassland for feeding and roosting. Black-backed Cisticola, a species thought to be extinct in Kenya, has also been reported from Ruma National Park. About 400 species of birds have been recorded in the area.

Myriads of reptiles in Ruma National Park-Kenya

Ruma National Park-Kenya is endowed with exceptional snake population. Commonly spotted species include: The African spitting cobra, forest cobra, python, eastern green mamba, black-mouthed mamba and puff adder. The park also abounds in lizard, skink and gecko.

Thimlich Ohinga Archaeological Site in Ruma National Park-Kenya

Thimlich Oginga is one of East Africa’s most important archaeological sites located in the South of Ruma National Park-Kenya. It holds the remains of a dry-stone enclosure, 150m in diameter and containing another five smaller enclosures, thought to date back as far as the 15th century. The site`s name translates in Luo as ‘frightening dense forest’.

Flourishing Wildlife in Ruma National Park-Kenya

Ruma National Park in Kenya embraces numerous animal species but the most notable is the Roan Antelope, a rare species in Kenya. Roan move in herds of up to 20 members with a very characteristic social structure. The most dominant female becomes the leader and each herd contains only adult strong bull, when the juvenile males grow to about 3 years, they are being ejected from the group while the female calves remain within the herd. When the herd becomes too big, the herd of the roan divides into smaller groups of cows and their young ones. These groups will form new herds, once again with only one adult bull.

The young males evicted from the herd, associate in bachelor groups of up to 12 individuals. Amongst these, the most dominant is the first one in line to join a new group of females, very seldom, on their fights for supremacy, inflicting body harm to their contenders.
Roan Antelope are very courageous animals. If threatened by predators, including Lion, they will confront them, and many of these big cats have perished, jabbed by the scimitar-shaped horns of Roans. Adults attain a mass of up to 270Kg and can live to about 15 years. Roan Antelopes are mainly grazers.

Other flourishing animals include Oribis, Bohors reedbucks and Rothschild giraffes, African leopards, eastern black rhinoceros, cape buffalos, lelwel hartebeests, olive baboons, hyenas, servals, topis, honey badgers, bush pigs, vervet monkeys etc. The park is also rich in Ostriches, Chimpanzees, and Impala gazelles. So lucky to encounter wildlife species you may never encounter anywhere else!

Wildlife viewing is best in the dry months from June to October and January to February.