An elephant injured by a snare that was set up by poachers
in Queen Elizabeth National Park
On a typical Sunday, when the church is full to the brim,
Ben Baguma steps up to the pulpit to implore people to abandon their sinful
ways. He is the reverend of Rwebisengo Parish in Ntoroko district. When I
caught up with him recently, it was not in the environs of Rwebisengo.
He was in detention at Kira Road Police Station in Kampala
over charges of poaching elephants. Baguma’s other life came to light when
wildlife officials, together with the army, bust a racket behind the armed
killing of elephants in Kibale National Park. It was an unpleasant scene.
The reverend was barefooted. Because of his position in
society, he always avoided eye contact. He was ashamed of the charges placed
against him. Rangers, who were excited about what they called a big catch, kept
urging him to face the camera. He did not oblige and they forcefully pushed his
head to look up.
It was a ‘feast’ for the pressmen and onlookers. “He has
been poaching for long, but his luck ran out when we used spies as buyers of
ivory,” said Moses Olinga, a Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) law enforcement
officer, who coordinated the operation. “We have a network of informers and
Baguma’s name kept coming up as the chief financier of ivory trade in most of
the intelligence reports,” he added
What does Uganda Wildlife Authority say?
Charles Tumwesigye, the director of conservation at UWA,
confirmed that poaching was still a problem. However, he said the animal
numbers for most species were either stable or going up. Tumwesigye said some
huge herds of animals were no longer visible because the distribution had
changed.
He attributed this to ecological changes, which he said were
negatively affecting pastures. As a result, he said, most animals were moving
towards Lake George and areas near Kasese in Queen Elizabeth National Park. “We
have conducted an animal census and the conclusion is that the animal
population is increasing. But the tourism routes will have to be changed in Queen
Elizabeth to enable visitors to see the animals easily,” he said.
Reasons for unabated poaching
UWA has been raising awareness by calling for creation of
alternative livelihoods for people living near the parks. But the approach has
failed to tame poaching. In addition, community conservation strategies are
thought to contribute to changing attitudes and mobilizing support, according
to sources. But UWA is underfunded and community conservation is not working to
reduce poaching, according to sources. “Also, people around the parks are poor
and, therefore, depend on bush meat for food and income.”
“In the absence of effective poverty reduction programmes in
such areas as national parks, poaching is unstoppable. What are the acceptable
alternatives to the poacher?” the source asks. Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Its tusks had been extracted from the carcass, meaning UWA officials are still
running in the shadows of the poachers at the park.
At Kibale, elephants are being killed using automatic rifles
(AK47) or trapped in pits, where sharp sticks are planted and covered with
leaves. When the elephants fall into the trap, the poachers cut off the tusks
and leave the carcass behind. In northern Uganda, poaching is still a problem
in Murchison Falls National Park, but Olinga says the rate has reduced,
compared to what it was two years ago.
Uganda among the gang of eight A dark cloud still hangs over
Uganda, which was accused at the most recent Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES), of providing a safe haven for poachers from
neighbouring countries. The poachers also use Uganda as a trafficking route.
Sources also fear that the poachers could turn their guns to Uganda’s elephants. CITES cited Kenya
and Tanzania among what they called the ‘gang of eight’, in reference to
countries which are doing little to curb the illegal trade in ivory.
Others are Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, and
destination countries, Thailand and China. The countries were ordered by CITES
to provide a programme of action to minimize the trade in ivory in the next 12
months or face sanctions. “There was a high level meeting on elephant poaching
when the Thailand prime minister visited Uganda recently,” says Mutagamba.
Other measures, according to Mutagamba include setting up an intelligence unit,
recruiting 430 rangers and placing gadgets that can detect ivory at Entebbe
Airport.
Sources say Kenya has put in place punitive laws, from which
Uganda can copy. Poachers from West Africa and countries in Asia were operating
rackets in Uganda because of the weak wildlife laws, according to sources.
Illegal ivory traced back to Uganda about 1.3 tones of elephant ivory were
recovered in Mombasa, Kenya, hidden under fish for export.
According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the
Malaysia-bound ivory was from Uganda. KWS revealed that the ivory was stashed
in bundles and sacks and hidden in the fish maws within the container and was
ferried from Malaba (at the Kenya-Uganda border) to Mombasa. Its value was
estimated at $342,000. Asan Kasingye, the Interpol director told Saturday
Vision that they were working with UWA and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to
establish the origin of the ivory. Last year, tusks belonging to 200 elephants
were impounded at Entebbe Airport, according to Kasingye.
This happened just after a massacre of elephants in Garamba
National Park, in the DR Congo, by heavily armed poachers, assisted by a
helicopter. Animals hard to see in Queen Elizabeth In areas around Queen
Elizabeth National Park, poaching is worse than is reported, according to
sources Rwanda elephants faces such
problems.
“When you take a game drive through the park, you will keep
wondering where the animals have gone.” A tourist who was giving feedback to
one of the tour operators after a game drive in Queen Elizabeth complained that
the animals were becoming too elusive. Tour operators say Murchison turns
into butcher ground In Murchison Falls, the problems have been compounded by
the current exploration of oil.
Also key is the fact that bush meat is part of the culture
of the people in northern Uganda. While park authorities in Murchison say
poaching has scaled down compared to the rate two years ago, tour operators say
every time they are on a game drive, they encounter abandoned carcasses or
poachers on a hunting spree.
“When you report to UWA, they intimidate you,” a source told
Saturday Vision on condition of anonymity. “It is unfair for tourists to spend
their money and get almost nothing out of it. After encounters with poachers
spearing animals, what will tourists tell others who are planning to come?” Author
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