Uganda’s Oldest Gorilla Dies At 50

Ruhondeza, one of the oldest silverbacks in Bwindi national park has died. It was also the leader of the first group that kick-started habituated gorilla tourism in Uganda.

Believed to have been over 50 years old, Ruhonza was until recently the leader of the reknown Mubare gorilla family whose successful habituation in 1991 kick-started gorilla tourism in Uganda.

Over 50 community members converged to attend Ruhondeza's burial in Buhoma. He died on Friday last week and preliminary findings from a postmortem done by the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) suggest that he died of old age. the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) spokesperson, said a comprehensive postmortem report would be released later.

"His body had no injuries but the teeth were completely worn out up to the gums which meant he could not feed properly. He was also very thin and his muscles had greatly weakened." UWA staff in Bwindi for several weeks were monitoring the health and movements of Ruhondeza together with community members and veterinary doctors. The UWA would construct a monument at Ruhondeza's burial site and provide wide literature about his life and times in recognition of his contribution to the country's tourism industry. "His life will always be celebrated for having contributed to the birth of gorilla tourism in Uganda."

"Although we are saddened by Ruhondeza's death, we are at the same time happy that he was able to live to a ripe old age in the face of the numerous challenges facing gorilla conservation today." Ruhondeza's Mubare group has enabled gorilla eco-tourism to grow and flourish in Uganda. Currently Uganda has eight habituated mountain gorilla families, receiving between 55 and 64 tourists daily and yielding over $11m (about sh26.7b) annually.

UWA charges $500 (about sh1.2m) per foreign non-resident tourist and sh250,000 from east Africans for gorilla tracking. Early this year, Ruhondeza's family (Mubare) had a fight with a wild unhabituated group, which caused the Mubare family members to scatter. Ruhondeza remained alone while his son Kanyonyi escaped with three family members. The number of children Ruhondeza fathered in his lifetime is not known but at the time of his family's habituation in 1991, it consisted of 17 family members. The Mubare family is now headed by Kanyonyi and has seven members including one juvenile, three sub-adults and two adult females.

Kenya Tourism Fraternity Assures Tourists Of Tight Security

Kenya’s tourism sector guarantees security to all tourists who will be visiting Kenya in the next months. They say they are working together with government security bodies of Kenya to make sure that they maintain the highest degree of peace and security to all tourists while in the country therefore they should not feel threaten by the terror attacks that Kenya has been getting from the Al shabab terrorists more so in Mombasa.

This has come up following a travel advisory that the United States Embassy passed to its people on Saturday where it asked its staff to vacate Mombasa immediately and also asked all its nationals to make sure they stay away from the coastal region for their own safety as there are citing intelligence reports of a pending terror attack.

Lucy Karume the Chairperson of the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF)  said that it is very good that these countries are looking out for their citizens but they should also remember that what is happening to Kenya is not their own  cause and would also wish to see it end immediately as the citizens are being affected in so many ways. He said this is a global war fight has got to e addressed with the help of all countries rather than declaring Kenya insecure as if it is their own making.  It is very important for the whole nation to see Somalia peaceful and practical use of intelligence information by any country will prevent the on going killing of innocent people and deal a blow to the terrorist elements so she added.

She said that they had increased security in all tourist facilities and all areas where they are tourists’ activities like the national parks and game reserves in the country to protect the tourists as they have so far been lucky that no single tourists ahs been killed in any of the attacks something they would not wish to happen at any one time and there has not been any attack on any of the tourists attraction centers.   The tourism sector therefore assures all the travelers to Kenya that they will be protected; they should keep flying in to Kenya and enjoy their safaris.   The KTF Safety and Communication Centre will always be 24 hours in a day for any one who may have any question about safety in Kenya and will also keep updating the industry should there be any issues they may arise.

Kenya’s Rare Species of Zebras Under Serious Threat

New from Kenya revealed that there are about 5 Zebras from the West gate conservancy in Kenya which are wandering about in the Naibelibeli plains of the West gate wildlife area meanwhile there are a dozen of camels which were bathed in afternoon sunlight and feed on thorn trees. These Zebras have got saucer-shaped ears and barcode-tight stripes of the black-and-white animals and were kept away from the usual ones but their numbers have currently reduced tremendously and this is attributed to the increase in the number of people who hunt them down and cause illnesses to them that kill them for example they were about in 2,500 but are now remaining 15,000.

This is because currently there are people who are occupying all the land that were they used to graze from and are therefore push out of existence and yet they can be very important for the tourism industry so said Peter Lalampaa, a Samburu tribes man who is the senior manager at the Grevy’s Zebra Trust during his visit to the West Gate. He added that they conservation area is also affected by the upcoming schools and the pastoralists activities for cattle grazing.

This area was pretty large and used stretch into Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea but currently, it occupies the arid region of the northern Kenya and a small pocket of Ethiopia.  Lalampaa’s group together with the Kenya Wildlife Service mentioned that there is a herd of about 500 Grevy’s zebra that are wandering around the area which needed to be taken back into the park to protect them from any kind of harm that the people around may cause them once they become a threat to them and also to get their skins like the case was before 1977.  The commonest type is that ones are those from the plains with a population of about 660,000 basing on the records of the research done 10 years ago and is common in South Sudan and Ethiopia down into South Africa.

The Gravy’s zebra are pretty different from the plains as they can not go without water for five days. The Kenyan wildlife officials in 2006hadthem all vaccinated for anthrax vaccination of the zebras and then had one of them donated to French president Jules Gravy in the late 19th century. Kenya already forbidden the sale of game meat in 2004 in any effort to stop poaching and hopefully that will help to protect them.

                           

KWS Has Got Address Problem of Fierce Creatures Immediately

Currently, there is a problem of the lions which are wondering around the different areas pout side the parks where they are supposed to be so that they  do not cause any harm to human life of the their domestic animals. These lions are from the Nairobi National Park and they are killing lots of people’s animals in the Kitengela and not so long ago 6 of them were killed by angry community members after they attacked ands killed their animals and they felt like the Kenya Wildlife Service were not being responsible enough for these lions yet, the people were losing their live stock from which they earn some income that they use to run their families.

It is very true that the KWS has been working hard and keeping these wild animals in the jungle where they belong but now that the numbers are increasing, perhaps it is becoming so hard for them to keep them there and also because of the fast growing city, it is becoming a lot harder for the people and animals to live together in harmony although Nairobi is still boasting about being the only major city in the world with a national park within.

Now KWS has had to transfer these lions some where else but this is no good news, especially to staff that have spent years training on how to deal with dangerous animal. However the problem is probably because KWS has not trained its staff well enough on how to handle a number of savage beasts which the common man around id afraid of. KWS has got deal with several creatures and keep them in their natural habitants away from people and the include the Kenyan parliamentarian or the Kulayoteus Mpakaiisheus as it is called scientifically, camera wielding blackmailing lasses, these are very rare but not friendly at all. It is very important for KWS to protect and preserve these animals but not at the expense of human life and their properties.

Batwa Become Guides in Their Ancestral Homes

The origin people known as the Batwa that lived in Mgahinga forest and Bwindi Impenetrable forest over 20 years ago have decided to work as tour guides in their inherited areas turned into national parks.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority has employed the Batwa as guides in Mountaingorilla tracking in Mgahinga National Park and also sell their hand crafts and entertain the tourists with their cultural dance.

The United States Agency for International Development has spent $31,000 in the rehabilitation of the Batwa trail and has been used to train the Batwa as tour guides, improve the walkways, shelters and the lighting along the trails.34 Batwa have been trained and employed as guides in the park. The trail has raised a lot of revenue and the money has been shared equally with Batwa communities and UWA.

Masai Mara Game Reserve Ought To Assist The People Around It

The Narok aspirant county governor encouraged the administration staff of all lodges and hotels that is situated at the Masai Mara Game Reserve to support the farmers who are living and growing their crops in areas around the park by buying those food stuffs from them rather than traveling to them market buy food that they would have bought from the farmers so that they get the money  more in the high season when there are so many travelers who use the hotels, the local people can also successfully  look after their families.

According to Daniel ole Kiptunen the CEO of seasons hotel, this one way of giving the people around the park an opportunity to venture into the different businesses with the lodges and the hotels and it is also one way of improving on their standards of living for their good and for the good of the nation.  He said so yesterday while addressing people in the business forum in Kilgoris town and he added that he to discuss with the managements of the lodges to see up to it that they agree with them to always help out the local people buying their crops from them.  This is necessary because this region produces a lot of foods as it has got very rich soils and so the local people have got the potential to supply the lodges with all the food through the year once they are given the tender rather than getting it from Kenya,Nairobi.

In so doing this, the hotels and lodges would save a lot of money compared to the amount that they pay the suppliers from Nairobi. It is less costly to work with the locals than a group of suppliers out side Narok he added.