This major pronouncement comes at a time  when Uganda's tourism sector is beginning to wake up from decades of neglect. The lifting of the ban must have been an outcome of very careful considerations.

For  now more  and more people would like to visit Uganda  following the return to normalcy and the country's political stability. The infrastructure received  substantial boost over the past decade  with more roads being constructed  and decent tourist lodges put in place in proximity of game parks.

With such a background, the public is bound to raise  eyebrows  at the lifting of the ban. Authorities have said that hunting by tourists will only target old leopards that are no longer active in reproduction and are therefore not contributing  to the population  growth of species.

They have  also said that some of these leopards are being killed anyway by villagers who see them as a menace to livestock. What needs to be emphasised is that the animals to be hunted must be thoroughly screened, vetted before they are condemned to sport hunting.

It must be such a tight process that it would not be abused  by profiteers conniving with  wrong elements in the wildlife authority to condemn healthy, useful animals.

“In any case, if in this twenty first century we are going to resume hunting  rare species, we may as well be scientific about it and shoot them with tranquilizers rather than lethal bullets”, Tindigarukayo said.The sporting tourists would be satisfied felling a whole African leopard and taking pictures as he steps on his dazed  quarry.

At the same time, the animal  would be kept alive and transferred to designated wildlife educational centres and specialised protected  colonies  for townspeople to watch .Certainly there is now a sufficient number of well off Ugandans who can adopt these animals and pay for their upkeep as they live their last days .

Even part of the money paid for the hunting permits can be spent towards this goal .After all, it will not be small  money .You do not allow  someone to come and shoot  a leopard  in your national park  for a few dollars .The hunters should pay  a stiff price. And by the way, many of them  will miss the targets but still leave the money behind. 


Keywords:  uganda nature bushmeat travel business