Python sends Pece residents into panic
Apr 01, 2010
RESIDENTS living near Pece War Memorial stadium in Gulu town were on Tuesday sent into panic for two days after they discovered a python which escaped from the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) during the northern region trade fair in Gulu.
By Dennis Ojwee
RESIDENTS living near Pece War Memorial stadium in Gulu town were on Tuesday sent into panic for two days after they discovered a python which escaped from the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) during the northern region trade fair in Gulu.
The residents found the python inside a pit latrine. The snake, estimated to be about five years old, had escaped through an opening of a wire-mesh cage at the showground on the last day of the show.
The residents who live behind the stadium said the snake had denied them access to the latrine.
Patrick Kidega lamented that the snake had forced them to use either public toilets during the day and indoor flash toilets from sympathetic neighbours for two days.
“We do not know how the snake entered the latrine, we were very scared and could not use it,†said John Paul Oola, a local animal keeper with UWEC.
Oola added that it was Simon Okot, a primary seven pupil at Holy Cross Primary School, who found the snake at 1:00pm when he visited the latrine on his way back to school.
The snake was retrieved from the latrine after Oola, with the help of brave residents, demolished a section of the latrine wall.
The Gulu police commander, John Peter Ematu, and six policemen were called to the scene to provide protection to the snake, fearing that the crowd gathered around would kill it.
RESIDENTS living near Pece War Memorial stadium in Gulu town were on Tuesday sent into panic for two days after they discovered a python which escaped from the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) during the northern region trade fair in Gulu.
The residents found the python inside a pit latrine. The snake, estimated to be about five years old, had escaped through an opening of a wire-mesh cage at the showground on the last day of the show.
The residents who live behind the stadium said the snake had denied them access to the latrine.
Patrick Kidega lamented that the snake had forced them to use either public toilets during the day and indoor flash toilets from sympathetic neighbours for two days.
“We do not know how the snake entered the latrine, we were very scared and could not use it,†said John Paul Oola, a local animal keeper with UWEC.
Oola added that it was Simon Okot, a primary seven pupil at Holy Cross Primary School, who found the snake at 1:00pm when he visited the latrine on his way back to school.
The snake was retrieved from the latrine after Oola, with the help of brave residents, demolished a section of the latrine wall.
The Gulu police commander, John Peter Ematu, and six policemen were called to the scene to provide protection to the snake, fearing that the crowd gathered around would kill it.