Man dies in baboon hunt

Jun 17, 2019

According to eyewitnesses, residents had chased the baboon, blocking all corners of escape. In a process, it climbed a tall tree and hid in the top branches.

BABOON     KYOTERA     HUNT    UWA

It was death witnessed by more than 200 residents of Kigaya village in Kabira sub-county as their colleague fell off a tree in a hunt to kill a baboon that had raided their community.

The incident occurred on Wednesday. The deceased identified as Edward Sserugo,35, a peasant farmer of Kafuufu village in Kyanika parish in the same sub-county had joined the hunt.

According to eyewitnesses, residents had chased the baboon, blocking all corners of escape. In a process, it climbed a tall tree and hid in the top branches.

Residents started hurling stones at it without target as it kept on dodging them.

However, Sserugo volunteered to climb the tree. As he neared where the baboon was, the baboon descended and met Sserugo.

In fear, Sserugo released the branches and crashed on the ground. He died instantly. The baboon went back up to hide in the tree branches.

Rosette Sikahwa, the Acting District Police Commander for Kyotera, told New Vision that Sserugo landed with his head first and could not survive.

She said a postmortem was done at the scene and the deceased's family members were allowed to proceed with the burial.

"This is classified as a natural calamity in this case because the baboon did not attack him. He got scared and released the tree branch," she explained.

It's over two weeks since the primate strayed from Marabigambo forest into Kigaya, Kafuufu and other communities where it has become a menace to the residents.

Apart from destroying their crops, affected residents claim baboon sometimes harasses women and girls, especially those who move alone in isolated places.

They cited a scenario where the primate attempted to rape a 14-year-old girl who had gone to fetch firewood in Kigaya, but she was rescued.

UWA intervenes
According to Sikahwa, they informed the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials about the problem.

On Thursday, UWA officials reached Kigaya village to hunt the baboon. Although they had a rifle and other hunting equipment, they failed to trap or kill it.

She noted that the officials attempted to shoot it several times, but kept missing as it kept jumping from one branch to another.

She further added that the frustrated officials told all residents to leave the scene to give it room to climb down. It later escaped into an unknown hideout.

As a result, the authorities allowed residents in the affected communities to hunt and kill it once it returns.

George Bakireke, the Kabira sub-county councillor, said the baboon first raided Katuntu village, then to Kigaya village.

According to Bakireke, the baboon can harm, harass and kill residents and livestock if nothing is done, yet residents are restricted from killing wild animals.

Richard Kalanzai, the Kabira LC2 chairperson, argued that UWA's delayed intervention in the baboon problem cost a human life.

He explained that they have on different occasions appealed to UWA authorities to respond immediately over the straying wild animals such as monkeys, buffaloes, and hippos, but with little or no response.

Bashir Hangi, the UWA spokesperson, regretted the incident and appealed to the residents to always inform the District Vermin Control Department about such animals and UWA.

He explained that there's a Lake Mburo Problem Animal Team that can respond to such problems in the southern region.

"When people inform us in time using our toll-free line-0800100960, the problem animal unit handles such emerging concerns about stray animals," he noted.

 

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