Description
A rather small Leptopelis (males 33-36 mm) from forests at high altitudes in eastern R. D. Congo and western Uganda, with reduced webbing and a small tympanum. Dorsum brown with a darker irregular pattern. The males have a white gular sac.
In the mountains of south-western Uganda and adjacent R. D. Congo there are two species of Leptopelis, apparently inseparable in the preserved state. One is a forest form, the other lives in montane grassland. One has a white gular sac, the other a blue. I have used the name L. kivuensis for the forest form with a white gular sac and L. karissimbensis for the grassland form with a blue gular sac. In this I believe I follow Laurent, except that he notes that L. kivuensis has a blue gular sac!

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Burundi, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Rwanda, Uganda

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (165 records).

Montane forest from eastern R. D. Congo and south-western Uganda.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The voice is a single or double clack. A male was heard uttering 3-4 very quiet clacks in rapid succession.

Comments
This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.

References

Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2025 Leptopelis kivuensis: Kivu Tree Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/3654> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed May 23, 2025.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 23 May 2025.

AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.