Uganda to get antelopes from Kenya
UGANDA will import 12 oryxes for re-stocking Kidepo Valley National Park in the north-eastern part of the country, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has said.
By Gerald Tenywa
UGANDA will import 12 oryxes for re-stocking Kidepo Valley National Park in the north-eastern part of the country, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has said.
The director of conservation, Sam Mwandha, said the oryx, a species of antelope, previously roamed parts of north-eastern Uganda.
He explained that the oryx had become extinct in Kidepo.
“A few of them are still surviving between the hills separating Abim and Pader,†Mwandha said.
He added that the oryxes used to be found in the plains of Karamoja, Southern Sudan and Kenya.
Mwandha said poaching, which pushed animals to extinction, had thrived in the political turmoil and civil unrest of the 70s and 80s but this changed two decades ago and the wildlife populations have been increasing.
The oryx, which are world famous antelopes among tourists, will be translocated from Heller Park, run by Lafarge, to help establish a breeding population in the country.
Hima Cement Factory, which is part of Lafarge, will donate the animals and airlift them to Kidepo park.
UGANDA will import 12 oryxes for re-stocking Kidepo Valley National Park in the north-eastern part of the country, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has said.
The director of conservation, Sam Mwandha, said the oryx, a species of antelope, previously roamed parts of north-eastern Uganda.
He explained that the oryx had become extinct in Kidepo.
“A few of them are still surviving between the hills separating Abim and Pader,†Mwandha said.
He added that the oryxes used to be found in the plains of Karamoja, Southern Sudan and Kenya.
Mwandha said poaching, which pushed animals to extinction, had thrived in the political turmoil and civil unrest of the 70s and 80s but this changed two decades ago and the wildlife populations have been increasing.
The oryx, which are world famous antelopes among tourists, will be translocated from Heller Park, run by Lafarge, to help establish a breeding population in the country.
Hima Cement Factory, which is part of Lafarge, will donate the animals and airlift them to Kidepo park.