As a way to control stray wildlife from contacting neighboring communities, Uganda’s biggest national park, Queen Elizabeth N.P has launched the use of bomb pistols, a measure they hope will effectively care away the animals. This is because bomb pistols make loud feigned gunshots while releasing smoke.
The decision by the park authorities comes as the public had cried out over and over again about stray wildlife attacks which usually destroy gardens and sometimes kill livestock. Recently in Kidodo cell in Railway ward Kasese municipality, stray animals from Queen Elizabeth destroyed over 80.
However much the park is working on erecting an electric fence, the areas that haven’t been covered are prone to wildlife attacks. Therefore, the park management has launched the bomb pistols to scare the animals from straying into the communities since they no longer respond to the old control measures.
Speaking about the development, John Muhangi, the Warden Law Enforcement and Security in Queen Elizabeth National Park, said that they are cognizant that most game animals have found alternative routes, which they use to stray into communities where they wreak havoc.
He says they have decided to resort to bomb pistols with chilly and smoke since the animals had become accustomed to the old methods including sounds of AK-47. Joshua Masereka, the Community Conservation Officer will lead the team on ground.
Martin Safari, the Central Division LC III Chairperson in Kasese municipality, says over 100 households in the municipality alone have lost their property and gardens to the wild life invasion. Though he welcomes the new measure, he asks Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to expedite the processes of fencing the entire park.
In other news;
Queen Elizabeth National Park has recorded an increase in the number of wildlife animals at the end of the COVID-19 lockdown which started in March. The park has more than 90 mammal and 600 bird species.
The increase has also been recorded for buffaloes whose figure stands at 17,000 while in the previous census the figures stood at 15,000. According to available statistics, the crackdown against poachers has also seen an increase in the cobs population to over 21,000.
The absence of tourism business in the park has also seen wildlife recolonize their original grazing zones in the park as well as the growth of fresh vegetation. Also, because of the ongoing night-time curfew and intensified security patrols, the number of poachers has drastically gone down. According to park authorities, the population of elephants has surpassed the 3,953-mark registered before the lockdown.
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