Mega Fm &Agency
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has installed more than 141 kilometres of electric fencing around Murchison Falls National Park in an effort to curb persistent attacks by elephants, buffaloes and other wild animals on communities in neighbouring districts.
The fencing is being installed in areas of Buliisa, Nwoya, Masindi, Kiryandongo and Oyam, districts that have for years experienced crop destruction, injuries and deaths resulting from wildlife entering human settlements and farmland.
Wilson Kagoro, the UWA Conservation Education Officer at Murchison Falls National Park, said 41 kilometres of fencing has been completed in Buliisa, with another seven kilometres still under installation.
In Nwoya, 78 kilometres have been completed, while work is ongoing on another five kilometres.
Installation is also underway in Masindi and Kiryandongo, with five kilometres being covered in each district, while 15 kilometres have been completed in Oyam.
He said the fencing is intended to create a physical barrier between wildlife and communities and reduce encounters that have increasingly threatened lives and livelihoods.
Since 2022, at least 18 people have reportedly been killed and several others injured by elephants and buffaloes in Buliisa District alone.
