Uganda protected areas like other parks in Africa, heavily depend on tourism revenues to finance their operations. With Covid19 that has heavily impacted on tourism as international has been disrupted, Parks’ finances have been stretched and management has had to cut down their operations, limiting the number and lengths of anti-poaching and monitoring patrols. This has opened gaps for poachers to exploit and poaching activities are on increase. On June 12th 2020, Rafiki, a famous mountain gorilla silverback of the Nkuringo Group in Southern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was speared to death as he tried to protect his family from a poacher (intruder) who was shutting a bush pig for bush meat! This is one sad cases as more wildlife including elephants, antelopes are being killed.
According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, the halt to tourism income caused by COVID-19 has pushed many people who depended on tourists into poaching the very animals the industry depends on. Uganda’s national parks recorded a doubling of wildlife poaching during the pandemic compared to this time last year. Between February and June of 2020, the Uganda Wildlife Authority recorded 367 poaching cases across the country, more than double the 163 cases recorded during a similar period in 2019.
Rangers use regular field patrols, aerial surveillance and intelligence gathering to control poaching and other illegal activities. According to the World Commission on Protected Areas, an International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), program that guides protected area management, the effective and ideal ranger deployment strategy should be 1 Ranger to every 6 square kilometres.
Park management needs to provide rangers with food ratios and daily allowances to keep on patrols. They also need fuel and maintenance of vehicles for deployment and emergency deployments. Care for Nature, with support from our partners like The Rufford Foundation has been able to provide support to rangers carry out regular patrols especially in Murchison Falls.
We invite you to support us to keep rangers on frontline for wildlife by donating to fund our anti-poaching patrols to save Africa’s iconic wildlife including lions, elephants and primates. Please contact us on donations@caringfornature.org