Conservation in Uganda
Conservation in Uganda
Uganda has always been at the forefront of wildlife conservation and research. highlighted below are some of the current areas where due to the conservation and research being carried out visitors are able to experience and understand just what it takes to preserve and care for animals so that future generations can also see them.
George Owoyesigire - Tusk Conservation Finalist 2020
George Owoyesigire is the Uganda Wildlife Authority is the Deputy Director for Community Conservation. He has dedicated his life to conservation and was the part of the team that first habituation Chimpanzees in Kibale Forest National Park. His conservation efforts have been recognised in 2020 the with a nomination for the Tusk Conservation Awards a charitable organisation who passionately believe in conservation. Tusk was set up in 1990 and has been working with conservation partners with a view to conserving wildlife for future generations.
Dr Gladys Kalema- Zikusoka- Tusk Conservation Finalist 2019
Dr Gladys Kalema - Zikusooka is the founder of Conservation Through Public Health Public Health and Gorilla Conservation coffee Both organisations work with communities that live around the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Her conservation efforts were recognised in 2019 by the Tusk Awards.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is the only place in Uganda where you can see rhino in the wild. The sanctuary is part of the effort by Rhino Fund Uganda and Uganda Wildlife Authority to rebuild the Rhinoceros population in Uganda. Uganda was once home to thousands of rhino but prolonged civil war and poaching in the 1970s and 80 take its toll and in 1982, the last rhino living in the wild was killed.
Rhinos are classified as threatened animals, with only 5 remaining species, two of which reside in Africa, and the other three in Asia. In 2005, 4 southern white rhinos were introduced from the Solio ranch in Kenya and an additional 2 from the Disney Animal Kingdom in Florida, USA. Today the sanctuary boasts 33 rhinos ( April 2021 )
Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary was established in 1998 as a project of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife trust to provide a home for orphaned chimpanzees and chimpanzees that are rescued from illegal poaching activity. The sanctuary currently cares for 49 chimpanzees that have been rescued from within Uganda, and as far as The Democratic Republic of Congo.
The island is made up almost predominantly of thick forest with small gaps of grassland, with an acre of cleared land that houses the camp quarters and chimpanzee feeding area. Ngamba Island is also a habitat for over 120 bird species and has healthy populations of otters, monitor lizards and fruit bats. Only a limited number of visitors are permitted on the two boat trips that depart from Entebbe daily, for 3-hour expeditions on the island.
The Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC), commonly known as the Entebbe Zoo was established in 1952 as an animal refuge for wild animals that were sick, injured or orphaned. In the 1960s the centre evolved into a zoo, even displaying some animals like bears and tigers that are not indigenous to Uganda. But in 1994, following the establishment of Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Trust, the zoo refocused its mission; to provide leadership in educating Ugandans about the benefits of conserving the country’s biodiversity; to rescue and rehabilitate injured, orphaned or confiscated animals; and to breed endangered species in captivity with the aim of introducing them in the wild. UWEC specifically targets the young generation and receives over 250,000 visitors annually, mostly students on school trips.
UWEC is located on 72 acres in Entebbe town on the green shores of Lake Victoria, about 40kms south of Kampala. The landscape of the centre mimics 3 main ecosystems where Uganda’s animals stay in the wild; wetland, forest and savannah. UWEC has in its care 282 animals including 10 big cats, 121 bird species and 250 herbs and medicinal plants in the forest. The star attractions include the chimpanzees, rhinos, lions, leopards, and shoebill storks in the aviary.
UWEC offers guests a variety of exciting programmes like ‘behind-the-scenes’ and ‘zoo-keeper-for-a-day’ tours, as well as volunteer opportunities.
The Uganda Carnivore Program (UCP) is an organisation devoted to the research and conservation of Uganda’s large carnivores, including lions, leopards and hyenas. It was started in the 1990s to mitigate the continued deaths of lions in Uganda, which research showed was because of poisoning – the effect of expanding human settlements in the park. A critical aspect of UCP’s work is community-based activities that increase local participation in wildlife conservation – some 50,000 people live inside the park boundaries in 11 community villages. UCP also welcomes local and international graduate and undergraduate students who would like to carry out research.
Today, working with Uganda Wildlife Authority, UCP offers guided lion-tracking, the Lion Tracking Research Experience is a rewarding adventure that offers trackers close up encounters with the lions, in a very intimate setting. These experiential tours last 1-3hours and take place twice a day, in the early morning hours or the late afternoon.
Lions are tracked via radio-telemetry and the tracking team monitor their movements into conflict “hot zones,” where they face the danger of meeting up with people and their livestock. There is at least one collared lion in each pride which means that trackers can expect to see multiple lion prides in a few short hours. Because this is an off-road adventure, close encounters with other wildlife are also assured.
The Uganda Conservation Foundation ( UCF ) is a charitable organisation registered in the United Kingdom and Uganda, dedicated to protecting Uganda's National Parks, Wildlife Reserves and Protected Areas. This is done through 3 primary work streams,
1 - Supporting the recovery of wildlife to protected areas
2 - Mitigating human / wildlife conflict
3 - Improving the livelihoods of park edge communities
All of this is done in collaboration with international conservation and development organisations as well as in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
