Ishango is a sub-station of Virunga National Park

Virunga National Park

The Virunga National Park , formerly named Albert National Park, is a 7800 square km National Park that stretches from the Virunga Mountains in the South, to the Rwenzori Mountains in the North, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori...

, situated on the Northern Shores of Lake Edward

Lake Edward

Lake Edward or Edward Nyanza is the smallest of the African Great Lakes. It is located in the western Great Rift Valley, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, with its northern shore a few kilometres south of the Equator...

 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

. The station was created in the 1950s and is famous for many reasons:

• It was referred to by George Schaller
  George Schaller
  George Beals Schaller is an American mammalogist, naturalist, conservationist and author. Schaller is recognized by many as the world's preeminent field biologist, studying wildlife throughout Africa, Asia and South America. Born in Berlin, Schaller grew up in Germany, but moved to Missouri as a...
  
   as the most beautiful place in the world for its stunning landscapes.
• As the source of the Semliki River
  Semliki River
  Semliki River is a major river in Central Africa. It flows northwards from Lake Edward in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, across the Uganda border, through western Uganda in Bundibugyo District, near the Semuliki National Park. It empties into Lake Albert at...
  
  , where the waters of Lake Edward begin to flow down the Great Rift Valley
  Great Rift Valley
  The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
  
   into Lake Albert, Ishango is one of the sources of the Nile.
• The Ishango Bone
  Ishango bone
  The Ishango bone is a bone tool, dated to the Upper Paleolithic era. It is a dark brown length of bone, the fibula of a baboon, with a sharp piece of quartz affixed to one end, perhaps for engraving...
  
   was discovered there in 1960. This fossilised baboon bone, which was dated at 18,000 BC, has clear markings suggested to be either tally marks, a series of prime numbers, or a lunar calendar.
• In 2005, Ishango became the centre for training congolese park rangers, and programme surported by the Frankfurt Zoological Society
  Frankfurt Zoological Society
  The Frankfurt Zoological Society is an independent, non-profit conservation organisation based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The society is funded through membership fees, donations, bequests, grants and earnings from its endowment fund.-History:...
  
   and WildlifeDirect
  WildlifeDirect
  WildlifeDirect is a Kenya and US registered charitable organization founded and chaired by African conservationist Richard Leakey, who is credited with putting an end to the elephant slaughter in Kenya in the 1980s...
  
  .
• Ishango is home to the last significant population of hippos on Lake Edward, a lake which formerly held the biggest hippo population in the world

Ishango is currently managed under the leadership of a park warden and five rangers. It has an airstrip, and administrative building, four houses and some tented accommodations for visitors. The buildings were rehabilitated by the European Development Fund

European Development Fund

The European Development Fund is the main instrument for European Union aid for development cooperation in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories...

in 2007.