Filming Lions in Uganda

Filming Lions in Uganda – Filming and Photographing Lions in Uganda

Filming Lions in Uganda’s wild of Africa is one of the greatest adventure productions that you shouldn’t miss out on while filming wildlife in Uganda. Lions are among the few big cats that are found in some of the ten Uganda’s National Parks. They are also found in two wildlife reserves in Uganda. Lions are one of the most sought-after safari species, and one of the most impressive to observe and film.

Living in pride of around 5-15 individuals, Lions are active during the night and they spend much of their day resting.  You can opt to have night filming, as well as day, filming to capture moments well in their natural environment. Human-Wildlife Conflicts have sometimes caused a reduction in the local Lion Population, recently a pride of 6 Lions poisoned in Queen Elizabeth Park, but researchers show that the Lions population in Uganda is increasing in number as conservationist efforts including community education are enhanced. Below are the detailed best places where you can film Lions in Uganda.

Kidepo Valley National Park

Kidepo Valley National Park is the best Lion filming location and it is found in the most remote area of Uganda and known as the most diverse savannah National Park in the country. It is located in Northern Uganda in the rugged, semi-arid valleys between Uganda’s borders with South Sudan and Kenya. It is famously called “Africa’s True wilderness” and it is among the best wilderness areas in Africa.

Kidepo Valley National Park has a huge abundance of wildlife, species of predators are resident, and several don’t exist in any other Ugandan National Park, including cheetahs and black-backed jackals. The Lions are common as well as the Leopards and this will make your productions an interesting one. Other wildlife to include in your shoot is Elephants, Burch ell’s zebras, Antelopes, Buffalos, and Rothschild’s giraffes which are regularly seen. Contact Great Adventure Safaris to have a great film production on Lions in Uganda.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is another best location to film Lions in Uganda; Queen Elizabeth National Park gives you various ways and places to film the Lions, for example, some can be seen in Euphoria trees. Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in the western arm of the Great Rift Valley and is home to a wide variety of wildlife including Elephants, Lions, Hippos, Buffalos, Uganda kobs, baboons, and many Birds species which can make your production more resourceful.

With both a riverine and savannah habitat, Queen Elizabeth National Park includes the southern Ishasha sector with its tree-climbing Lions and Maramagambo tropical rainforest, one of the largest surviving natural forests in Uganda.  The northern sector of the Mweya and Kasenyi plains area, traversed by the Equator line and dominated by the scenery of crater lakes, is often occupied by large flocks of flamingos.

Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park is very famous because of its population of tree-climbing lions that are a very exceptional attraction that you can document or make a film Production. The Lions are normally seen lazily lying up within the branches of the huge fig trees staring down at the numerous Uganda Kobs that graze in the open Ishasha savannah plains and these are the main prey to these lions. Sometimes even leopards can be seen lying in the tress. Great Adventure Safaris will organize all permissions to film the lions in this sector.

The Kasenyi-Mweya sector of Queen Elizabeth National is the most used for game drives for visitors to spot various animals. This is a very fruitful area for those on a photographic Lion Hunt. Here you can do Lion tracking filming, night filming, and daytime filming to explore all chances of seeing the Lions. There is a lot to film in Queen Elizabeth National Park beside Lions, namely; Lake Katwe salt mines, crater lakes, Kyambura gorge, Chimpanzees, Banded Mangoose, Maramagambo forest, the beautiful scenery, and the view of the Mountain Rwenzori. Contact Great Film Fixers to include all your interests in your filming program and we advise you accordingly.

Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison Falls National Park is one of the best National Parks to film Lions in Uganda. This National Park is found at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, bisected by the Victoria Nile, creating the amazing Murchison waterfalls. Murchison Falls National Park is endowed with other wildlife including over 76 mammal species with four members of the big 5, the Lion, the Leopard, the Elephant, and the Buffalo. Other species include Bushbucks, Uganda kob, Waterbucks and Warthogs, Giraffes, Jackson’s hartebeest, Hyenas, about 450 bird species including the rare shoebill stork.

There are many more animals that can be spotted at the shores of the River Nile and within the waters, you will see lots of Hippos and Crocodiles, and many more. Choosing Murchison National park as your Lion filming location will feed you with plenty of wildlife to shoot alongside Lions. You will do filming of Lions along the drive tracks as put by Uganda Wildlife Authority such as the Albert track, Queens Track, and many others.

Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve

Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve is one of the best places to film Lions in Uganda, it is a virgin wildlife reserve and a habitat to diverse wildlife including the Common Eland, Zebras, Hartebeests, Gunther’s Dik-Dik, the popular Orbis, the Impalas, Cape Buffalo, the Uganda Kob, Waterbuck, Blue and Common Duiker, Klipspringers and the Bohor and Mountain Reedbuck.

Filming Lions in Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve gives you a variety of other animals to put in your productions and how they live with the Lions. The Cheetahs are also so much sighted and you have 80% chances to see them, making it the best place in the country to see earth’s fastest mammal. Other predators include the Jackals, Wildcats, Spotted Hyenas, Serval Cats, Civets, and Leopards. Lions can also be spotted between the nearby Amudat Wildlife Conservation Area and Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve. Contact Great Film Fixers for a professional quotation to film Lions in Uganda.

Procedure for  filming Lions in Uganda

Filming Lions in Kidepo Valley National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park and Murchison falls National Park, you will need to have filming contract from the Uganda Wildlife Authority and you will also need to process Media Cards from Uganda Media Council for every crew member. Great Adventure Safaris can process all these as your local fixer in Uganda.  You are required to also pay fees to the Uganda Wildlife Authority of 40% of the park entrance fees, 15% Monitoring fees on top of the park entrance fees per crew member every 24 hours. Then for your filming equipment will also need to be temporarily cleared in with the customs at the point of entry. Contact Great Adventure Safaris Uganda, we will be able to process both the filming permits, Uganda Media Cards, Accommodation, and Transport for you as well as guide and help you with the Equipment customs clearance process at the point of entry into Uganda.