Uganda opens savannah parks for safaris as lockdown eases
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has announced the opening of savannah parks for tourism but said that primates’ parks which protect endangered primates like mountain gorillas will remain closed until further notice.
“The Management of Uganda Wildlife Authority wishes to inform the public that after consultations with various stakeholders and putting in place standard operating procedures for the containment of the possible spread of Covid-19 in our protected areas, the savannah parks are now open for tourism. Primates parks will however remain closed to the public until further notice,” read part of the statement from UWA, a government agency that manages all national parks in the country.
UWA also said that the head office in Kampala is now open to the public who require any of their services.
In addition, the agency listed the guidelines under which all tourism activities in all protected areas shall be undertaken and, emphasizing that these should be in line with the procedures from the Ministry of Health and the directives by His Excellency the President.
These include but not limited to:
i) Mandatory temperature screening using non-contact infra-red thermometers at the key tourism gates of the different protected areas
ii) Mandatory hand washing/sanitizing at the entrances of all UWA premises and protected areas
iii) Government guidelines of carrying half capacity in order to observe social distance shall apply to the use of vehicles and boats in the parks. These include concessionaire delivery vehicles
iv) Saloon car vehicles shall not be permitted to carry out game drives activities in the protected areas
v) Large groups exceeding 25 people shall not be permitted in the parks at the same time for the same activities
vi) Events such as destination weddings shall not be permitted in the interim
vii) Visitors going to the parks are encouraged to carry their own hand sanitizer and face mask
UWA added that the agency has trained its staff on how to protect themselves and the visitors from any possible infection and provided them with appropriate wear.
“We have trained our staff and provided them with appropriate wear to protect them and the visitors from any possible infection. Staff on duty shall sensitize visitors on the general government approved Covid-19 operational guidelines including the ones developed and approved by UWA Management. The safety of our staff and visitors is important to us and we shall continue to operate while exercising a high degree of caution to ensure safety of person is not compromised. As welcome our visitors back into the protected areas, we continue to advise the adherence to the laid down government guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.” Read the statement.
Which parks are opened for tourism?
Uganda has got about 10 national parks with majority of them being savannah parks and 3 primates parks. Uganda’s savannah parks include Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park, Semuliki and National Park. Mount Rwenzori National Park and Mount Elgon National Park are the Uganda’s two mountainous parks. Uganda’s primates’ parks include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park both protecting mountain gorillas mostly and Kibale Forest national Park that protects chimpanzees and several monkey species.
With the opening of savannah parks to tourism, tourists can now have access to some of their favorite game species including the famous Africa “Big five” that includes lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhinoceros. Other common game species in Uganda savannah parks include giraffe, zebra, antelopes, warthogs, waterbeest, among others.
According to UWA, primate lovers will have to wait till further notes in order to see their favorite species like mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, golden monkeys, among others. This is because humans can easily spread viruses to these apes given the close resemblance between the two species. Gorillas chimps share about 98 percent of the human DNA and unfortunately human viruses have proved to be very catastrophic once they are spread to these apes. The most recent example was the spread of the Ebola virus to the gorillas in the Gabon forests in the mid 90s which almost claimed all their population
