No compensation for killed relatives,UWA - Uganda Safari News

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has declined to the proposed ideal of compensating the relatives of people killed by wild animals straying from National Parks.
According to Dr. Andrew Seguya, the executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority,he said that there is no law regarding compensation of people killed by the wild animals.He said that this can not implemented unless the government comes up with laws on compensation.

A man being chased by a wild animal straying from a National Park

Speaking this,he was responding to questions from the journalists which involved compensation of people killed by animals.In Uganda,elephants,lions and crocodiles are known to kill people in different parts.The executive director said that these animals sometimes come out of the protected areas.However,he said that people are also to blame because they sometimes go unprotected to protected areas and from here,they are attacked.

Many NGOs in Uganda have tried to document the lives lost at the jaws of wild animals but nothing has yet been than.They did this after the various complaints by different communities living around Uganda's national parks.The communities have now petitioned the Parliament of Uganda and the ministry of Tourism to help them out on this problem.

Last year,the Parliament of Uganda recommended that government should come up with a policy on Human animal conflict that will handle compensation for the lives lost and the property destroyed  by wild animals straying from reserves and protected areas.

Members of the Parliament have warned the government to effectively intervene to avoid conflict between the local people and the national parks since this will affect tourism in the country.If these conflicts are not stopped,the tourism sector might be affected yet it is Uganda's leading foreign exchange earner. 

A report by the Parliament committee on tourism,trade and industry states that currently,there is no policy on compensation for loss of lives and destruction of  property  around wildlife protected areas.This has greatly caused tension within the various communities living around the parks.

According to Uganda Debt Network's report,2 people from Rubirizi district were killed by animals as they were digging in their gardens,One of them ( Lawrence) was killed by an elephant in his garden while the other was killed by a buffalo.

Basing on this information,the parliament wants the government to set up appropriate barriers to bar wild animals from killing people and destroying property.One of the ways that were suggested include digging trenches and constructing cages for crocodiles.

However,there is no single report where a wild animal has attacked a tourist.There are strong measures in Uganda that help to keep tourists safe from the animals.

More Cheetahs return to Kidepo Valley National Park

According to John Masereka,the conservation Manager,more cheetahs have been seen at Kidepo Valley National Park in Uganda.Of recent,there were more fear that these rare wild animals were nearing extinction.This poised a threat to both wildlife safaris and Primate Safaris in Uganda.Cheetahs can only be found in Karamoja sub-region in Kidepo Valley National in the whole of Uganda.This increase in the number of cheetahs at the park has has given hope to wildlife conservation.Currently the number of Cheetahs in Uganda is estimated to be 20 and all these are found in Kidepo Valley National Park.John Masereka said that it has become common to encounter cheetahs while on a game drive at the park.Last month,tourists encountered more than 6 cheetahs.This has led to a bright moment for visitors intending to see the big cats at Kidepo.

 Cheetahs are part of the cat family and are among the key attractions that tourists on a Uganda Safari come to see.However,these mammals are among the endangered species and this made them to appear in the list under Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in the Endangered Species of wild Flora and fauna (CITES). Therefore,there is need to protect both the Cheetahs and their habitats by the government to ensure that they are not depleted in the country.The conservation Manager said that there are conservation plans setup to protect areas such as Kidepo Valley National Park.This will hep to secure Kidepo and the nearby landscapes such as animal corridors for wildlife to thrive.

Rwetsiba Aggrey,Uganda Wildlife Authority's senior monitoring officer said that cheetah population is still small but fast growing.Frequent sighting of the cheetahs at the park is expected to boost the popularity of Kidepo as a true part of the remaining wilderness globally.Kidepo Valley National Park covers an area of 1,440 sq km and it sits in the northeast of Uganda sharing a border with South Sudan and Kenya.

The ongoing conservation programme at Kidepo has been boosted by the Africa Wildlife Foundation,which is being supported by USAID, to implement a 4-year programme that is expected to invest more in wildlife conservation within and outside Kidepo.