Interesting Sites to See While in Uganda

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  • In Kampala
    • Paliament Building
    • Various Embassies
    • Independence Arch
    • Africa Musem
    • Makerere University
    • Tombs of the Kings
    • Central Market
  • Lake Victoria
    • Sese Islands
    • Fishing doughouts
  • In the East
    • City of Jinja
    • Owen Falls Dam
    • Mout Elgon
    • Source of the Nile
    • Lake Victoria
  • In the South West
  • In the West
    • Rewenzori Moutains
    • Bwamba Road
    • Kabale Forest
    • Lake Albert
    • Murchison Falls National Park
    • Queen Elizabeth National Park

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Rhinos Viewing Open to Public
The Monitor, Kampala
December 8, 2001
Kabona Esiara

Minister of State for Tourism, Jovino Akaki will today officially welcome rhinos to Uganda at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.

The two rhinos; Sherino and Kabira, imported into the country from Solio ranch, Laikipi district in Kenya have been under a mandatory one month quarantine.

Management of the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre has finally released the rhinos for public viewing.

"The rhinos were let out into the open air natural exhibit on Tuesday, the executive director of the centre, Beti O. Kamya said yesterday.

Kamya said the importation of the rhinos was necessary and timely. "We intend to build community awareness about the plight of the species and gain credibility within the international rhino conservation community," she said adding that the rhinos will facilitate comprehensive knowledge about the unique creatures. She said in Uganda rhinos were of significant cultural and emotional value. To the Langi it is a tribal symbol of greatness. She said the future of rhino in Uganda is grave because of poaching.

Copyright © 2001 The Monitor. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

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The Rhino is Back Email This Page Print This Page New Vision (Kampala) December 18, 2001 Posted to the web December 18, 2001 Gerald Tenywa PROUD? The rhinos walked majestically and seemed to ignore the large crowd -- They believed that rhino meat was bitter and if you killed a rhino, bad luck would strike you THE drums beat and flutes sang. Sweat rolled down the bodies of the dancers. Skinny women wriggled their waists at the side of the towering men. They sang in Luo to entertain a small crowd of conservationists. They had gathered at a ceremony referred to as "Welcome the Rhinos back to Uganda." The two and a half-year white rhinos were the first rhinos to walk on Ugandan soil in two decades. Rhino Fund Uganda, a charity organisation, bought them from Solio Ranch in Kenya. This was under the first phase of bringing back the rhinos to Uganda. Uganda used to have both white and black rhinos which eventually became extinct. The last white rhino was seen in 1982 in Murchison Falls National Park. The last black one was seen in Kidepo in 1983. The two beasts, female and male named Kabira and Sherino respectively walked majestically on the patch of grass at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC). They seemed to ignore the enchanted crowds. "The rhinos are seen as a tribal symbol in Lango," Jovina Akaki told the crowd just before he commissioned the rhino. Akaki said his tribemates held the rhinos in high esteem and would never kill them. He therefore reasoned that the rhinos would have higher chances of not being poached if they were kept in Lango. "They believed that rhino meat was bitter and that if you killed a rhino, bad luck would strike the home," he added. However, the second phase to bring back the black rhinos would be in the neighbourhood of Lango district. Yvonne Verkaik, the coordinator of Rhino Fund Uganda, said an 80 square km piece of land in Nakasongola district had been acquired to establish a rhino sanctuary. "The black rhinos would be allowed to breed and later re-introduced into the wilderness," she said. This would constitute the third and last phase of bringing the rhinos back to Uganda, Verkaik said. Betty Kamya, executive director of UWEC said they had contacted groups of people with an emotional attachment to the rhinos. They included Buganda's Nkula clan, Busoga's clans and the Langi who were dominantly represented. Rhinos are globally endangered because of their valuable horns: They have two horns; one longer than the other. Poachers export the horns to Asia where they are used to make ceremonial dagger handles and traditional medicine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top | Who We Are | Copyright | Privacy | Shop | Advertising | Sponsor Wire Copyright © 2001 New Vision -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bwindi, Rwenzori Not in Danger New Vision (Kampala) February 12, 2002 UGANDA has asked the United Nations to de-register two of her national game parks from being listed as 'sites in danger.' Charles Ariko writes that the two game parks are Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Rwenzori. Tourism, trade and industry minister Edward Rugumayo yesterday said the listing had a negative impact on tourism. He was officiating at the opening of a sub-regional workshop on natural and cultural heritage conservation at the International Conference Centre. Together with Kasubi Tombs, the parks are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites that normally attract tourists because of their rare qualities. Bwindi and Rwenzori are, however, still being listed as 'sites in danger' even after they were re-opened and declared safe for tourism last July. They had been declared unsafe after rebels killed tourists there. Rugumayo said Uganda would present her case to UNESCO Director General, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, who is to visit the Great Lakes region next month. Matsuura will lead a diplomatic mission to the region.

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