www.interiorsafarisea.com Did you know that Between 2014 and 2020, trophies of 5,409 animals of internationally protected species were imported into Germany, including 194 leopards, 208 brown bears, 166 hippos 229 elephants, 138 lions, nine polar bears and two black rhinos. Many of these animals were killed because of the hunts sold at hunting fairs.
As from 24th-29 January,2023 Europe’s largest hunting fair has been taking place in Dortmund, Germany. Over 80 national and international exhibitors from Canada, Argentina, Namibia, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Poland and others, are in attendance, offering trophy hunting trips, that cost between a few hundred and tens of thousands of euros, around the world to kill elephants, big cats, rhinos, polar bears and numerous other iconic species.
Trophy hunting is a form of entertainment rooted in wealth and pageantry that results in both severe cases of animal harm and far reaching damaging biological and ecological impacts. Yet, more than 120,000 animals are killed in Africa each year by big game hunters. The European Union is the second largest importer of hunting trophies from internationally protected species, behind the United States. Germany is by far the greatest importer within the European Union.
In Uganda, wildlife is protected by the Government on behalf of, and for the benefit of, the people of Uganda (The Uganda Wildlife Act, 2019). The Government of Uganda established Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) under the Uganda Wildlife Act, Cap 200 to manage wildlife in protected areas including National Parks, Wildlife Reserves, Community Wildlife Management Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries among other areas following strict conservation procedures that limit or entirely exclude human activities. Wildlife is officially managed in gazetted protected areas such as Queen Elizabeth, Semuliki, Lake Mburo, Murchison Falls, Kibale, Mount Elgon, Mgahinga Gorilla, Rwenzori Mountains, Bwindi Impenetrable and Kidepo Valley. Wildlife that strays onto private land can be the impetus for conflicts between the government and private landowners when wildlife compete for resources with livestock or destroy crops on agricultural lands.
Although the Uganda Wildlife Authority has the mandate to manage wildlife outside the protected areas. it does not because it has no control over private lands. Private land and landowners have a right to use their land the way they wish (Ugandan Constitution, 1995). The National Land Use Policy, 2006 cites weakness of policy and legal mechanisms for wildlife conservation outside protected areas. Wildlife on private land is largely unprotected. Wait for the 2rd episode next week.
Wildlife conservation and related management matters are primarily considered a government level responsibility in Uganda. Species management happens through public agencies, which often ignore the role of private landowners for conserving species on their land. Not involving private landowners of private ranches, communal grazing lands and farms in the conservation of wildlife can partly be a driver of human-wildlife conflict and the ultimate decline of wildlife on unprotected lands. By involving private landowners in wildlife conservation matters, wildlife can be better protected when they are on private lands.
Studies in Uganda’s southwest for example show diverse wildlife on private lands as compared to protected lands (Guard, 1991; Averbeck, 2002; Rannestad et al., 2006). A study of dung counts in the tropical savanna ecosystems of Lake Mburo National Park (LMNP) and the adjacent ranchlands in Kiruhura District, Uganda revealed a greater diversity of wild mammals on ranchlands than in protected areas (Nyamukuru, 2019). The grasslands and woodlands inside and outside of the park contained a diversity of mammalian wildlife. The ranchlands had greater diversity and abundance of zebra Equus quagga, eland Taurotragus oryx, impala Aepyceros melampus, waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus, African hare Lepus victoriae, Bush duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, Monkey Cercopithecus aethiops and Hyaena Crocuta crocuta. wait for the next episode two next week
