A four-month old baby girl has been killed by a chimpanzee in Kagadi district.
The deceased has been identified as Miracle Ngonzize a daughter to Rogers Ahaisibwe residents of Kahyooro B in Nyamiti ward, Muhorro town council, Kagadi district.
The child was grabbed by the stray chimpanzee from their home today morning and ran with her to the bushes.
Residents pursued the chimpanzee to rescue the infant but unfortunately their efforts became fruitless as they later discovered the child killed and body dumped in the bushes.
Residents in the area have criticized UWA for doing nothing despite several attacks by chimpanzees.
They have tasked UWA to relocate chimpanzees from the Muhorro town council area to reduce human-wildlife conflict cases.
The angry locals have threatened to harm the chimpanzees if the government keeps a deaf ear on addressing the human-wildlife conflicts in their area.
The Kahyooro B Cell LC1 chairperson Mugabi Yasini says it’s unfortunate for UWA to consider wild animals more important than human beings when lives are being lost.
He has asked for swift government intervention to address the recurring challenges of chimpanzee attacks if not vows to mobilize residents and raise their voices through a peaceful demonstration.
The Chairperson LC3 Muhorro town council Godfrey Nangonza has also raised similar concerns saying there is a lot of laxity by UWA officials to keep the animals in the protected zones, and even when they are alerted about the invasion of animals in the community, officials do not act immediately.
He says the chimpanzees have attacked and inflicted harm to residents several times but UWA has been reluctant to address the matter.
Nangonza has however asked residents to remain calm and do not revenge against the chimpanzees saying plans are under way to control animals from invading the community.
Residents of Nyamiti in Muhooro town council, Kinyarugonjo and Kyanaisoke Sub-Counties have so long suffered invasion from chimpanzees straying into their homes and gardens destroying crops and causing harm to their lives.
By press time, our efforts to get a comment from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials were unsuccessful.
