Semuliki Forest Reserve was created in 1932 and upgraded to national park status in 1993. With an altitude of 670-760m above sea level, it is the only tract of true lowland tropical forest in East Africa, hosting 441 recorded bird species and 53 mammals. Large areas of this low-lying park may flood during the wet season. The park sprawls across the floor of the Semliki Valley on the remote western side of the Rwenzori and is dominated by the easternmost extension of the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin. Hot springs bubble up from the depths to demonstrate the powerful subterranean forces that have been shaping the rift valley during the last 14 million years. The Semliki River (which forms the international boundary) is a miniature version of the Congo River. The local population includes a Batwa pygmy community – traditionally hunter gathers that originated from the Ituri and live on the edge of the forest