The Killing of a black back – a male juvenile mountain gorilla in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park has sparked a lot of fury among conservationists. Conservationists are calling for more stern measures against poachers in the national park as well as other national parks in the region.
Poaching although it has been reduced is still being carried out in different Uganda national parks and conservationists believe that a strong stand against poachers will help curb the vice.
Mizaano was a black back that belonged to the Habiyanja family of mountain gorillas. However it suffered injuries from poachers who had setup traps in the national parks from which it died.
The police in south western Uganda arrested eh suspects Byamugisha Roland, Begumisa Fidel and Kazonga Amos who are all residents of Mpungu village. Gorilla safari is the leading Uganda tour package bringing 80% of the revenue in tourism.
Mizaano whose name means “Playful” was the only black back – a male juvenile in his family and is thus a great hindrance to the starting up of another family. Black back mountain gorillas go on to become silverbacks – the dominant males in a family.
According to Lillian Nsubaga who is the Uganda Wildlife Authority spokesperson, Makara the dominant silverback in habiyanja family was likely to be succeeded by Mizaano. However it is now going to take a while before the family can recover.
Poaching in Uganda is a major vice, during a recent trip to Murchison falls national park, I happened to interact with many of the locals and was astonished to find out that bush meat from the killing of animals in the park is readily available as long as one understands the language. For hippo bush meat all one has to say is that they want “Makar” which when translated means “charcoal” and you would be available with smoked hippo meat.
Murchison falls safari is one of the leading tour attractions in Uganda as it brings in lots of tourists visiting this majestic falls.
