KITAGWENDA-Uganda Wildlife Authority [UWA] has launched the installation of an electric fence along Queen Elizabeth National Park boundary to protect some residents in Kitagwenda district from being attacked by wild animals.
UWA officials and district leaders early this week commissioned the installation of the fence in Rwetuma and Buhindagi parishes in Mahyoro town council, which occasionally faces wild animal attacks.
The electric fence that measures 61 kilometres [kms], that stretches through the villages of Buhindagi, Kanyabikyere, Rwetuma, Zambia, and Kyendangara, is meant to stop humans from invading the national park to poach.
According to Bashir Hangi, senior communication manager, the fence to also protect crops, will cost UWA US$ 915,000 [Shs 3.5 billion], procured as a loan under a project dubbed, “Investing in Forest and Protected Areas for Climate-smart Development [IFPA-CD].
Vincent Bimbona, LC III chairperson, Mahyoro town said for many years, park animals such as elephants, hippos, and buffalos have been ravaging farmers’ crops as well as killing people in the area.
James Hakiza, one of the affected farmers said for years they have been sleeping outside to protect their crops from being destroyed by wild animals, adding that they will now sleep as the fence will guard residents and their crops against animal invasion.
George Kabigumira, also a resident in the area, said some farmers deploy security guards to protect their crops from stray animals.
Hafasha Omeri, a resident of Buhindagi cell, Kyandangara ward, Mahyoro town council who was attacked by an elephant while protecting his maize, has spent seven months without walking after sustaining serious injuries.
“I was in my maize garden when an elephant attacked me, injuring my leg, since then I cannot walk or do anything for myself,” Omeri explained.
Ismail Mushemeza, Kitagwenda district LC V chairperson confirmed that out of 20 residents who were attacked by elephants in the district, eight have so far died, including a primary four pupil who was attacked by a stray beast as he was coming from school.
Ketra Akankunda, another farmer said wild animals have not spared farmer’s gardens, leaving them with the burden of struggling to find food for their households.
“We had banana plantation here but elephants cleared them. Owners are now starving struggling to find food from elsewhere,” Akankunda said, adding that it was a major reason why they appealed to government to erect an electric fence around the national park.
Isaiah Bwire, Chief Warden of the park said the latest fence lining an addition to 58.7 kms that put up in Katerera constituency in 2018, separating residents of Rubirizi district from the same park.
He however asked locals to desist from killing and poaching the wild animals in the park, saying some of the beats face extinction, which he said affects the tourism industry in Uganda.
Key species of animals hunted in Queen Elizabeth National Park include; elephants, buffaloes, crocodiles, hippos, baboons, and chimpanzees.
He also cited illegal grazing, illegal resource access, and human-wildlife conflicts as some of the challenges that UWA faces as it manages the parks in the country.
Queen Elizabeth National Park spans the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Kitagwenda, Bushenyi, and Rukungiri.
https://thecooperator.news/police-boss-asks-ugandans-to-conserve-lions/
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