A great sense of fear among the conservation fraternity from the countries that do share the ecosystem where we can find a huge population of Mountain Gorilla after the park ranger discovered 2 dead gorillas within the first day of February 2012 in Greater Virunga Landscape .and it is believed to have been killed by poacher and a number of elephants were also killed. according to Deputy secretary Maxime Nzita Nganga who is in charge of community relations in the Greater Virunga Tran boundary Collaboration GVTC mentioned that illegal hunting has greatly increased in the latest years more so in the most unreachable areas of this large park which goes through some parts of Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda. Usually, illegal hunters go out for the areas where people do not normally visit which are why the chose the deeper ends of the savannah.
The Director of Tourism at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) while she was addressing The New Times, she said that killing of gorilla and the elephant was unacceptable and a hazardirous to conservation practice and they therefore condemn such a behavior that is devastating their acts conservation activities within the Greater Virunga Massif. There will therefore be dealing with the problem of illegal hunting immediately. She added that meetings will be held in Oder to come out with ideas of how to wiping out this increasing growing of killing animals. She also appealed for 3 countries Uganda Rwanda and Congo DRC to join efforts to solve the problem and also arrest the poachers. Kibale Conservation Area, Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, and Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area in Uganda , Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Greater Virunga Landscape together with the Virunga Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda; are to join effort and work as group with an aim ofprotecting the antelopes and other small animals which are usually hunted down for human consumption.Much as the poaching is on the side of Congo, It is very crustal to remember that they will soon be in any of the remaining countries because they fallow the movement of the animals so where they go is where they go too. Therefore the countries will have joint patrol to arrest the poachers.
.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
Killer crocodile captured in Kasesen
A crocodile weighig close to a tonne and linked to the deaths of three people over the past three years has been captured in Kasese district.
The Croodile was captured along the shores of Lake Edward in the western district of Uganda, according to the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area manager, Nelson Guma.
Guma said the croc is aged 45 years, weighs about 800 kilogrammes and measures 4.1 metres long and 0.65 metres wide.
“It [crocodile] could be the one that has been attacking the residents of Katwe/Kabatooro town council,” he observed.
The captured reptile is suspected to have attacked and killed a 15-year-old boy in the area around Christmas time. Joshua Tugume was attacked as he bathed with his other four friends in the lake.
The boy was a Primary Three pupil of Katwe Boarding Primary School.
Since Tugume’s death, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) staff had been on a determined pursuit for the deadly reptile.
“Our staff in Queen Elizabeth National park, backed by our headquarters staff, captured it this afternoon,' Guma confirmed Friday evening.
The manager said a wound was found on the reptile, compelling him and his staff to transport it to a holding facility in Entebbe Friday night to avoid do so during the day when it is hot.
The croc will be treated and relocated to MurchisonNational Park, a place with no communities living around.
“This is our first step to reduce the threat. Next month, we shall start fencing off some water points around lakes Edward and George to enable the people and their livestock there safely access the water,” Guma observed.
John Fisher Beinomugisha, who led the operation, said the croc might have been wounded while trying to attack hippos in the lake.
“We had laid a wire trap tied to a strong floating log and baited with lungs of a cow. So when the crocodile tried to eat the cow lungs, its jaws were trapped,” he said.
Almost instantly, UWA staff pounced on it, blind-folded it with a thick piece of cloth and then subdued it with different ropes tied at different points of its massive body. The captors then loaded it onto a waiting UWA truck and whisked off.
Previous attacks by crocodiles in Katwe/Kabatoro town council:
September 2009: Matovu Razak, a 12-year old pupil of Katwe Primary School was attacked and killed while fetching water.
December 2010: Byaruhanga James, fisherman from Kakoni was attacked while checking his fishing nets. He survived with minor injuries.
January 2011: Mbambu Jonice, 13 year old girl, was attacked and killed while washing clothes.
December 2011: Mrs. Mazinga, a resident of Kakoni, survived a crocodile attack while washing utensils.
December 2011: Joshua Tugume, a Primary Three pupil of Katwe Boarding Primary School is attacked and killed.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
UGANDA TOUR GUIDES UNDER SEROIUS TRAINING.
The Uganda tourism board through its recently developed Tourism act will ensure that the all the tour guides in the country under go some sort of training so that they get to a particular standard which is required all in an effort to instill a particular discipline and cord of conduct among people in the industry so says the tourism minister Mr. Ephraim Kamuntu.
He said during the ceremony where he gave out awards and certificates to more than 30 tourist guides after under going a training in different techniques and principles which was done from the Uganda Museum in Kampala. He added that I was very important for the guides to go through this training since they carry Uganda’s tourism flag.
According to the new laws that have been set, not all guides will be accepted to work with the tourists, only those that have undergone this training and have been registered will be taken on for the job as tour guides to the different parks and heritage sites so said Kamuntu. He added that the government is almost through with the establishment of the Tourism Police within the Tourism Ministry as way of ensuring the safety of the tourists especially while they are out there in the jungle.
Mr. Herbert Byaruhanga, who is the leader of the Uganda Safari Guides Association (USAGA), said that the association begun about 18 back and it was intended to modify the standards of this job so that they do follow particular principles that govern the profession in the country. However the major problem that the ministry is facing is the fact that the business world has got no idea what sort of material is needed by the tour guides for example the binoculars and recorders. The other problem is that the responsible parties have not stressed the principles that govern all high learning institutions and yet some of the reasons why the domestic tourism has not yet developed is because they a lot of people do not share information about the history of Uganda.
However, Mr. Boniface Byamukama the president of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators’ mentioned that the tourism sector has the potential to change Uganda’s economy but what is limiting it is the fact that there is a problem of poor marketing skills and methods of soliciting funds. Tourism industry contributed about $660m to the GDP of the country which is about 9.2% last year ad it is believed that it can perform even better than that.
He said during the ceremony where he gave out awards and certificates to more than 30 tourist guides after under going a training in different techniques and principles which was done from the Uganda Museum in Kampala. He added that I was very important for the guides to go through this training since they carry Uganda’s tourism flag.
According to the new laws that have been set, not all guides will be accepted to work with the tourists, only those that have undergone this training and have been registered will be taken on for the job as tour guides to the different parks and heritage sites so said Kamuntu. He added that the government is almost through with the establishment of the Tourism Police within the Tourism Ministry as way of ensuring the safety of the tourists especially while they are out there in the jungle.
Mr. Herbert Byaruhanga, who is the leader of the Uganda Safari Guides Association (USAGA), said that the association begun about 18 back and it was intended to modify the standards of this job so that they do follow particular principles that govern the profession in the country. However the major problem that the ministry is facing is the fact that the business world has got no idea what sort of material is needed by the tour guides for example the binoculars and recorders. The other problem is that the responsible parties have not stressed the principles that govern all high learning institutions and yet some of the reasons why the domestic tourism has not yet developed is because they a lot of people do not share information about the history of Uganda.
However, Mr. Boniface Byamukama the president of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators’ mentioned that the tourism sector has the potential to change Uganda’s economy but what is limiting it is the fact that there is a problem of poor marketing skills and methods of soliciting funds. Tourism industry contributed about $660m to the GDP of the country which is about 9.2% last year ad it is believed that it can perform even better than that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)