Uganda Safari News

By Nakiboneka Halimah
Uganda Safari and Travel News Reporter
Kampala Uganda

Kampala city yesterday got excited in the morning hours as 50 dummy mountain gorillas roamed the streets.

Vendors had  to abandon their business to see the dummy gorillas which were having a great meal of yellow bananas, shook hands with passers-by and distributed fliers to them.

A traffic Police officer at Entebbe Road junction, Richard Okem, blamed the gorillas for the thick traffic jam as drivers stopped to stare at them.

“They are very exciting and many people are very attracted to them,” he said. “But they have caused traffic jam.”

Despite the fanfare, some people took off in panic on seeing their close relatives on the streets roaming.

One shop attendant only identified as Isaac was initially scared at Shell Capital on meeting these dummy gorillas but later joined other admirers. “Nobody has seen a gorilla in the city and what do you expect if you just bump into it unexpectedly?” Isaac asked. “Many people fear drawing closer to them.”

At the Clock Tower, some gorillas became ecstatic when people gave them coins.

These dummy  gorillas were moving in pairs and groups of three. They stood at the major junctions and streets of Wandegeya round-about, the Constitutional Square, the Clock Tower, Parliamentary Avenue, Hotel Equatoria, Pioneer Mall and Theatre Labonita, near Christ the King Church.

This activity was organised by the Uganda Wildlife Authority to promote awareness and protection of gorillas and encourage the public to live in harmony with them.

Moses Mapesa the director of  Uganda Wildlife Authority explained that the event also helped the wildlife watchdog to publicise the UN international year of gorillas commemoration coming up later in the year.

 “We received a positive response from the public,” Mapesa added. “Many people were curious about the gorillas.”

 He said next year, the authority would have a marathon race from Kampala to Bwindi, the home of the gorillas, to promote tourism, which contributes 5% to Uganda’s GDP.

The gorillas are among the most endangered species in Uganda, which need protection because they contribute alot to Uganda’s tourism development since they are the major tourist attractions in Bwindi National Park and Mgahinga National Park and the activity that is known as gorilla tracking in these parks is the most expensively paid for activity.

Tour operator companies an example being Abacus African Vacations organise Uganda Gorilla Safaris packages to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for their tourists who come to Uganda every year just to visit the gorillas.
Uganda alone has got half of the worlds’ mountain gorilla population which is found in Bwindi being followed by Rwanda and DRC Congo and these are the only 3 countries in the whole world where you can find gorillas. This attracts alot of toursits from all over the world to come and have a memorable experience when they spend time with these cloes relatives of man. Therefore Ugandans should be sensitized about this gift of nature they ahve got in their own country and stop endagering the gorillas.