Cycads Safaris News

The Batwa people are believed to be the first indigenous inhabitants of Central Africa (areas straddling Uganda, Rwanda and eastern Congo). The bamboo and tropical rainforests are their natural habitat as hunter-gatherers.

Since the gazette of these forests as national parks in the 1990’s and the stringent environmental laws introduced due to international interest in the dwindling Gorilla population and the income Tourism generates; the Batwa people have been displaced, squatting on other people’s land.

The Batwa people are said to have lived in the forest for about a million years ago but today these pygmies are being treated with less or no attention at all.

Why doesn’t the ministry of Tourism for instance, consider the Batwa people as a tourist attraction and make the tourists pay two times Gorilla fees just to track the pygmies?  Because these are forest people and they are not like us so let’s not make them look like us at all in the name of modernizing them. Actually we should accept them as “wild people “and for sure these our brothers have no problem with it.

Let these forest people be gazetted some where in the forest and let them live again. Perhaps we would even be proud of having the remains of this rare species of early men. If Bwindi Impenetrable forest is conserved for Gorillas and people pay $500 to track a gorilla, yet the Batwa claim their origin from this forest, part of the  Impenetrable forest should be left for Batwa people to co-live with Gorillas and other animals as before.

By Judith

Kikarara village in Bwambara sub county Rukungiri district has been invaded by elephants from Queen Elizabeth national park displacing 20 families. Chris Kagayano said affected families are currently taking refuge in the trading centre 10 km from their homes. The elephants have escaped from the park as a result of the rampant wildfires now a common happening in the park. The prolonged dry season has dried out the shrubs in the park forcing animals to invade people’s gardens, which puts peoples’ lives at risk. Uganda wildlife authority will work on driving the animals back into the park boundaries.

Compiled by olive

Uganda safaris              Uganda safari

According to Ange Genade the executive director Zziwa rhino sanctuary 2 babies were born at Zziwa bring the total number of rhinos to 12. Both babies were born in January 2012with the births just a week apart. Both babies were fathered by Taleo the dominant male at the sanctuary. This has put Uganda’s rhino’s way ahead with their population steadily increasing. Since June 2009 the number of rhinos at Zziwa has doubled by way of natural births. Zziwa comprises of a species of southern white rhinos. Plans are underway to secure more rhinos at the sanctuary that would contribute to creation of a breeding population of about 15 to 20 rhinos.

Compiled by olive

According to Violet Nabatanzi a new vision reporter, 12year old Godfrey Muzeyi is nursing severe injuries at Mulago hospital. Godfrey was rescued from the jaws of a crocodile on December 27^th 2011 at Tonya village on Lake Albert.  The boy was attacked by the crocodile whilst in the company of his uncle as he withdrew water from the lake. According to the boy’s mother Jovia Katusabe, the boy’s uncle known as Taremwa broke Godfrey’s legs as he pulled him out of the jaws of the crocodile. Muzeyi a primary six pupil of Tonya primary school is steadily improving. According to the Uganda wildlife authority crocodile attacks are caused by increasing human contact with the reptiles. Older crocodiles that have been slowed by age are also thought to be attacking humans who are slower and easier to catch than fish according to wildlife experts.

Compiled by Olive

According to a meeting convened by the Rwanda development board in January 2012; all Rwandan gorilla permits were increased by 50% effective June 2012.  Gorilla permits that have for long been sold at $500 each will now go for a steady $750 each.  Despite efforts made by Rwandan tour operators the new price still applies.  Gorilla permits in Uganda’s Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks however still remain at $500 each.

Rwanda safaris       Gorilla trekking

Compiled by Olive

20 PEOPLE REPORTED DEAD AFTER CAPSIZE OF KENYAN FERRY

A Kenyan ferry with more than 80 passengers aboard capsized on New Year’s Day.  The passenger ferry reportedly collided with a cargo boat off the popular tourist island of Lamu. Survivors say the collision that happened at about 9:00pm must have been a result of overloading.  The ferry that normally takes a capacity of 50 people was carrying 82 people with their baggage. The overcrowding of the boat was due to the festive season as thousands of Kenyans flock the Indian Ocean cost for holiday merry making. According to the rescue team led by Kenya Red Cross regional head Abdalla Miraj, of the 82 passengers, seven were confirmed dead as of Sunday night, 25 had been rescued and 23 managed to swim to shore, 15 pulled from the water were admitted to hospital and 16 people were reported missing.

A police officer is said to have barred the ferry from leaving the island due to overloading. According to a survivor Ali Bakari whose wife and 3 children were luckily saved the operator of the ferry managed to convince the officer. Both vessels had no lights another likely cause of the collision. This follows another ferry disaster that occurred in Tanzania last September as when the MV Spice Islander sank as it sailed from Zanzibar to Pemba Island as a result of overloading killing over 200 people.

Compiled by olive

UWA CONDEMNS LOCALS ON KILLING TREE CLIMBING LIONESS

The news of the heartless murder of an adult lioness by Kazinga residents near Queen Elizabeth national park has been condemned by Uganda Wildlife Authority. Residents killed the lioness on account that it had for long been responsible for the disappearance of their livestock.

UWA expressed its sympathy to the villagers who had lost their goats but at the same time remarked that spearing the lioness to death was unnecessary. In cases like this the villagers were encouraged to alert the   park authorities to devise means of driving the lion away from the village into the park.

The tree climbing lion in Ishasha Queen Elizabeth is one of the chief attractions in the park. The park management on retrieval of the carcass of the lion for burial briefed the local; community on the importance of conservation. UWA promised to work on compensating the individuals that had lost their livestock to wildlife to maintain the good relationship they have shared with the protected area management over the years.

Uganda safaris -

Compiled by olive

Effective 1^st July 2011Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) decided to revise its tourism tariffs for tourists visiting the National Parks.

According, to the new tariffs prices for both category A and category B national park entry fees and some tourist activities have been increased.

Foreign residents refer to people living and working in Uganda especially diplomats and expatriates.

Murchison Falls, Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth, Mgahinga Gorilla, Bwindi Impenetrable, Kibale forest, Rwenzori Mountains and Kidepo Valley national parks; all fall in Category A.

Category B National Parks comprises of Mt Elgon National Park, Toro Semliki Wildlife Reserve and Semliki National Park.

Tourists visiting category A national parks will have to pay US$35 a change from the original $30 per day for foreign non-residents, US$ 25 a change from the original $20 per day for foreign residents and Ugshs. 10,000 a change from the original 5,000 per day for East Africans. Entry fees for children aged between 5 & 15 years have increased from $15 to $20 for foreign non residents. $10 for children of resident foreigners will be charged a change from the original $5 and 5,000/-will be charged for East African children a change from the original 2500/-.

In the same way Category B National Parks will require an entry fee of $25 per day for adult foreign non residents instead of the original $20, $15 per day for foreign residents instead of $10 and 5,000/- per day for East Africans from 2500/-.

Fees for tracking the chimpanzees in Kibale forest have increased from US$90 to US$150 for foreign non-residents and residents, while East Africans will now pay   Ugshs 100,000/- up from the previous Ush60, 000.

Some tariffs have however remained unchanged with a gorilla permit sold out at $500 for foreign non residents and 250,000/- for East Africans.

Fees for vehicle and boat entry into the Park remained unchanged for Ugandan registered vehicles at Ush 30,000 for minibuses, pickups and tour company vehicles.

Penalties for offending UWA park regulations will invite fines according to the new tariff. Off-track driving (US$150 per vehicle), illegal entry into the National Parks (US$50), accidents resulting in animal kills (US$500) and over speeding (Ush 100,000 per vehicle)

Compiled by Olive

.LIGHT SENTENCE GIVEN TO THE BWINDI GORILLA MURDERERS

Three male suspects, who were arrested in June 2011 for allegedly killing a mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park were sentenced to a fine of Ush50,000 (US$19) on each count. Begumisa Fideli, Kazongo Amos and Byamugisha Ronald were in June 2011 arrested from Karambi Trading Centre with the assistance of the Police Dog Unit a day after a black back was discovered dead in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest with a spear protruding from its neck.

On 17th June 2011, poachers in the company of hunting dogs entered Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and leaving it with a severe spear wound which led to its death. The mountain gorilla was called Mizano from the Habinyanja family. His death left a gaping hole in the family since he was the heir apparent to the only silverback in the family.

This sentence has however proved unsatisfactory to the Uganda Wildlife Authority which argues that the sentence is so light in comparison to the gravity of the crime committed by the 3 men. A source from the Uganda wildlife Authority said when asked to comment about the sentence given to the 3 suspects, “Although we will not appeal the sentence, we express our shock in the strongest terms and we will be bringing up this issue with the Office of the Chief Justice. Conservation in Uganda continues to face the challenge of having judiciary officials that do not fully appreciate the value of wildlife to the country, and are therefore ready to hand down light sentences to suspects. ” Mountain gorilla tourism is the highest contributor to tourism revenues in this country while tourism is the second highest foreign exchange earner.

A post mortem report on the dead gorilla revealed that the black back had suffered a brutal death from a spear wound that went through its right shoulder. The spear dug right into the gorilla’s lungs which caused it to suffocate to death.

On discovery of the dead gorilla, police dogs visited the murder scene leading the investigation team of police personnel and UWA rangers to the neighboring communities which resulted into the identification and arrest of the three male suspects. Three of the culprits were arrested the following day, while the rest escaped.

The presiding magistrate in her ruling gave the light sentence on grounds that prosecution had failed to produce enough evidence that the three actually killed the gorilla. The magistrate also confirmed that no DNA test was carried out to link the blood samples found on the panga and spear picked from one of the suspects’ house to the blood sample of the dead gorilla.  Another weakness in evidence on the prosecution lay in the fact that the doctors who carried out the post mortem were never invited to give their testimony in court. The magistrate also noted that neither of the accused was found at the scene of crime.

Following her observations, the magistrate convicted Begumisa Fideri of two counts including entering a protected area without authority and possession of illegal devices capable of killing wildlife species. He was convicted and given a fine of Ush50, 000 on each count.

Kazongo Amos and Byamugisha Ronald were each convicted on one count of trying to escape arrest after running away on seeing police. They were each given a fine of Uhs50, 000.

Mountain gorillas are classified under Schedule 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), categorizing them among the highly endangered wildlife species. They are only found in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC with a population of slightly fewer than 800.

Following the murder of the gorilla, the UWA law enforcement department in Bwindi teamed up with the police dog unit in Kabale and looked for the culprits.

Gorilla safaris  -     Uganda Tour      Uganda safaris

Compiled by Olive

NKURINGO FEMALE GORILLA KILLED BY TWO MALES

After undergoing a series of treatments and medication, a 20 year old female, Samehe, from the Nkuringo group in Bwindi impenetrable national park has died. She had on several occasions had her skull examined and her skin stitched. This was following an attack from two males who ripped open her skull in the scuffle. Samehe refused to show interest in the two males despite their constant efforts to hang around her. This in turn aroused anger from the two males who beat her up profusely according to sources from the park. These males spent several days jumping, rolling and tearing vegetation in their way as they attacked Samehe. The veterinary doctors intervened on realization that Samehe could no longer keep up with the 20 member group, a sign that she was unwell. Samehe’s head was cleaned and treated with antibiotics but after a few days she passed away. This is a great loss to the Bwindi gorilla families.

Compiled by Olive

Rwanda safaris- Uganda safaris