WILD PEOPLE FIGHT OVER WILDLIFE MEAT

On Wednesday June 8, 2016 in the early hours of the morning, a speeding overcrowded bus traveling from Arua to Kampala hit and killed an elephant; 3 people in the bus were also killed, including the driver and 10 other passengers were taken to the local hospital with critical injuries. 

The accident occurred in a section of the Kampala/Gulu road outside the Karuma Wildlife protected area; the speed limit was posted as 40 kilometers per hour.  The Elephant was apparently crossing the road when the speeding bus approached and struck it.  The elephant sustained injuries that eventually caused its death; the elephant limped back into the forest, where it died some 90 minutes after being hit. 

The knee-jerk response from the local people was to rush to the carcass of the elephant with axes and pangas in hand to procure some meat, instead of to the overturned bus to help the injured passengers.  Fights ensued among the local scavengers over the meat.  Eventually the scene was controlled by the arrival of the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda Police, who took the carcass and buried it to quell the looting of the elephant meat.  The UWA people explained that they did not want people to eat the meat as they might enjoy it so much that this would give them a taste for more. They also removed the Ivory Tusks from the Elephant.  Poaching of Elephants for meat and ivory in Uganda is an issue, as it is in all African countries. . 

A recent census by the UWA reported a total of 5,739 individual Elephants in Uganda.  To put this into perspective, Kenya our eastern neighbor has 26,427 Elephants and Botswana, with the highest number of Elephants has 118,736 individuals.

As a point of interest, a similar accident occurred in September 2014, which resulted in the UWA ultimately taking legal action against the bus company for the accident; that driver was also speeding in a restricted zone next to a comparable wildlife reserve. 

This story brings a number of issues to the forefront.  First and foremost, the lack of enforcement on the roads with regards to speeders is outrageous.  The World Health Organization lists Uganda as having one of the highest number of road deaths on the African continent; the major cause being speeding.  A section of the road that has a reduced speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour must be supervised and controlled by the authorities. 

Secondly, people, even hungry people should prioritize better; surely the possibility of saving an injured passenger on the bus takes priority over cutting a chunk of elephant meat for their own stomach.  Human behavior such as this is very disturbing. 

Thirdly, our Elephant population has dwindled over the years to a fraction of what it was many years ago.  Poaching for bush meat and ivory has been the biggest cause of this reduction in the numbers of Elephants and other endangered wildlife in Uganda.  Losing even a single Elephant like this, in an avoidable accident is also very disturbing.  
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