Budongo Forest Chimpanzee Killed
May 20, 2003
A MALE chimpanzee was recently speared to death in Nyakafunjo village after it strayed from Budongo forest reserve, Masindi district.
By Gerald Tenywa
A MALE chimpanzee was recently speared to death in Nyakafunjo village after it strayed from Budongo forest reserve, Masindi district.
Fred Babweteera, the director of the Budongo forest project, said 12-year-old Jambo was killed at an unnamed sugarcane outgrower’s farm near Budongo.
He said three researchers found his decomposing body days after he was killed.
It is suspected that the guard at the farm speared it instead of scaring it back into the forest.
“It was unfortunate that he paid for his life yet the sugarcane has been planted in the habitat of the chimps,†Babweteera said, adding that the chimp was given a decent burial.
Dr. Arthur Mugisha, the executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), condemned the killing of endangered species.
He said he had received a report from Babweteera on Jambo’s murder and he had dispatched a team to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Mugisha said national and international laws protect chimps and because they are endangered, they are referred to as ‘problem animals’ which should not be killed without UWA permission.
Babweteera said Jambo belonged to the habituated groups of chimps at Budongo forest project.
He said habituation was a laborious and delicate process through which chimps became used to human beings.
Babweteera said chimps are intelligent and human’s closest relatives as they share 98.6% of their genes.
He blamed the outgrowers of Kinyara who have planted sugarcane for clearing the thickets.
Ends
A MALE chimpanzee was recently speared to death in Nyakafunjo village after it strayed from Budongo forest reserve, Masindi district.
Fred Babweteera, the director of the Budongo forest project, said 12-year-old Jambo was killed at an unnamed sugarcane outgrower’s farm near Budongo.
He said three researchers found his decomposing body days after he was killed.
It is suspected that the guard at the farm speared it instead of scaring it back into the forest.
“It was unfortunate that he paid for his life yet the sugarcane has been planted in the habitat of the chimps,†Babweteera said, adding that the chimp was given a decent burial.
Dr. Arthur Mugisha, the executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), condemned the killing of endangered species.
He said he had received a report from Babweteera on Jambo’s murder and he had dispatched a team to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Mugisha said national and international laws protect chimps and because they are endangered, they are referred to as ‘problem animals’ which should not be killed without UWA permission.
Babweteera said Jambo belonged to the habituated groups of chimps at Budongo forest project.
He said habituation was a laborious and delicate process through which chimps became used to human beings.
Babweteera said chimps are intelligent and human’s closest relatives as they share 98.6% of their genes.
He blamed the outgrowers of Kinyara who have planted sugarcane for clearing the thickets.
Ends