Elephants invade Kitgum town

Three elephants made an unwelcome visit to Kitgum town in northern Uganda on Tuesday night. 

This threw the second biggest urban centre in northern Uganda into panic as the elephants were within two to three kilometres away from the heart of Kitgum town. 

“We have deployed rangers who have driven the elephants about 20 kilometres northwards,” said Samuel Amanya, the Chief Warden for Kidepo Valley Conservation Area. 

Amanya said Kidepo Valley National Park in Uganda is about 120 kilometres away from Kitgum and believes that the elephants slopped down from Kidepo Game Reserve in South Sudan.

“Elephants used to move southwards from South Sudan into Uganda’s Lipan controlled hunting area,” Amanya told New Vision in an interview. “We have been lucky that there no bad incidences so far and our rangers are driving them into the wild.” 

He added, “We hope the elephants can trace the route taking them back to their home in South Sudan.”   

The vast landscape in northern Uganda is being degraded by human activities, particularly cultivation and charcoal burning making it difficult for the elephants to trace their old routes. 

“We had three options when reports came through that elephants were advancing towards Kitgum,” said Amanya. “One of them was to herd them to Kidepo Valley National Park, but parts between Kitgum and Kidepo National Park are more settled than the parts between Kitgum and Kidepo Game reserve. The second option was to airlift the elephants to Kidepo Valley National Park, but we do not have the resources. The third option was to drive them towards South Sudan.” 

Elephants used to traverse parts of northern Uganda, South Sudan and northeastern Uganda. 

As the human population grows, the migratory corridors of elephants are being blocked by farmland and human settlements. 

African elephants are regarded as endangered species. They are likely to become extinct if the destruction of their habitats does not stop. The illegal ivory trade is also a big threat to elephants.