Residents Want Electric Fences Constructed Along Kidepo National Game Park

Communities neighbouring Kidepo National Game Park in Karenga District have asked the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to construct an electric fence to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts in the area.  

The residents say they are bothered by the persistent invasion by wild animals especially the elephants, buffaloes, and monkeys which stray into their farmlands and raze to ground their garden crops.  

They point out that the different mechanisms to prevent the wild animals from straying into the communities have had no impacts since the animals are already used to them and no longer scared.   

The different methods include digging trenches around the park, using trained wildlife scouts in driving away from the wildlife by using vuvuzelas, bangers, whistles, and scare shooting.   

Peter Lomilo a resident of Karenga Town Council says that during an interview that the methods for driving away the wild animals are not only risky to the people undertaking them but they no longer scare the straying wild animals.   

He advised that UWA should construct an electric fence along the game park like other protected areas to keep the animals from straying into the communities. 

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Moses Achila, a trained wildlife community scout said that they have tried other means like making fire, bangers, blowing whistles and planting red chillies to keep the wild animals especially buffaloes and elephants but these means no longer work. 

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He also emphasized that the need for constructing an electric fence around the park is key in keeping the wildlife animals away from the community.   

Achila says that the community entirely relies on agriculture yet the wild animals straying from the parks have destroyed several acres of their crops but no compensation is done.

Hangi Bashir, the UWA Communication Manager admitted overwhelming cases of wildlife destruction in the areas pointing out that at least 40 cases ranging from crocodile attacks, destruction of crop gardens along the wildlife corridors, poaching, encroachment in the protected areas, injuries, and killings of humans by straying wild animals among others are registered weekly.  

However, Bashir says that UWA is unable to construct electric fences around all parks in the country noting that it is very costly.   He instead advised the residents to learn to live with the wild animals as UWA designs lasting solutions to the problems.   

Kidepo Valley National Falls Park measuring approximately 1442 square kilometres is among the ten national game parks in Uganda with thousands of birds’ species, wild animals like lions, buffaloes, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, antelopes, zebras, giraffe, rhinoceros, leopards and beautiful sceneries among other tourist attractions.