The Monitor (Kampala)
Paul R. Aruho & Sam Amanyire
11 October 2006
Bushenyi — Residents of Katunguru sub-county, Bushenyi district on Saturday killed a lioness that had strayed from its restricted area in Queen Elizabeth National Park and become a menace in the area.
The lioness had earlier in the morning injured three people who were heading for work at a sand quarry.
One of the victims, Mr Yusuf Mambo, 23, later died in Kagando Hospital in Kasese. The others were Mr Mohammed Behwera, 18 and another 40-year-old man only identified as John. They are still nursing the injuries.
The lioness had been lurking around villages and putting people on tension while seeking refuge in a near by thicket.
Its attack on the trio prompted a mob armed with spears, machetes and clubs to surround the thicket, killing it after a prolonged scuffle.
They were not content even after it had died. They tortured the carcass by cutting out its tongue, teeth, breasts and skinning its forehead before carrying it to the sub-county prison cells and locking it up.
People from different parts of the district gathered to look at the corpse. Moments later, a battle ensued between the Uganda Wildlife Authority (Uwa) officials and the irate mob, who were not willing to surrender the corpse. However, they were finally overpowered.
Uwa officials took it to Mweya Safari Lodge for burial.
Residents said they had been reporting the lioness' loitering to the national park authorities but they were not bothered.
The park Senior Warden and law enforcement officer, Mr Louis Onzima, described the incident as unfortunate.
He said they had sent their veterinary doctor to dart the lioness but he found it dead. Onzima condemned the residents for taking the law in their hands.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Kichwamba sub-county, which also borders the national park, a male hippo, weighing about 3 tonnes, was stampeded by residents into a deep gorge in Kagando village, where it got stuck. Uwa officials had no means of lifting it out and decided to shoot it dead.
The locals overpowered the armed men and retained the carcass.
Led by the Kichwamba LC3 chairman and area councillor David Kisembo, residents divided the more than 6, 000 Kilogrammes of the hippo's meat among themselves and had a feast all through the weekend.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
