Uganda Safari

UWA Translocates 15 Giraffes from MFNP to Kidepo

UWA Trans locates 15 Giraffes From Murchison to Kidepo Valley National Park
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) together with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in August this year started the process of trans locating 15 giraffes from Murchison Falls National Park to Kidepo Valley National Park. The main reason for the trans location process is to promote conservation through enhancing the ecosystems with sparse populations while depopulating the high-density areas to ensure ecological balance and sustainable conservation while rewarding travelers with unbeatable Uganda safari experience besides the famous mountain gorillas.

The move is aimed at increasing the population of the Rothschild’s giraffes in the Kidepo Valley National Park that has been low for a long time estimated to be around 47 animals. At the same time the trans location relieves Murchison Falls national Park of ecological pressure brought about by a huge number of the giraffes of about 1,200 individuals. Indeed the scarcity of the Rothschild’s giraffes in Kidepo has been causing some major concerns among the visitors since they had to drive for a couple of kilometers around the park looking for these rare species.

This year’s trans location comes after registering success in the same process last year when 19 giraffes were trans located from the Northern to the Southern bank of Murchison Falls National Park and later 2 giraffes were also trans located from the Northern bank of the Park to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre at Entebbe.

The trans location process was carefully planned in order to avoid the tragedy that happened in Kenya where 11 rhinos died immediately after trans locating them. Although the Kenyan Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism reported that the deaths were due to the high-saline level of water that the Rhinos drank in the new location, other sources indicated that it was due to poor process planning and management and poor veterinary care.

In order to ensure that exercise runs successfully, the process included identifying which animals would be moved and darting to make them unconscious to allow rangers check their heart rates. The animals would then be secured with ropes and placed in the recovery cart. Moving the animals to the new location is done using customized transport trucks that are lined with cushions to protect the giraffes. UWA reaffirms that all precautionary measures are being undertaken by experts to ensure the giraffe trans location is smooth and successful.

In addition to the Rothschild’s giraffe population that is being boosted in Kidepo Valley National Park, there is a variety of other attractions in this remote destination found in Northeastern Uganda at the borders with South Sudan and Kenya. Among the famous attractions of Kidepo include the amazing game drives that lead visitors to thousands of game including the rock loving lions, elephants, large herds of buffaloes, leopards, zebras, hartebeests, antelopes, warthogs, waterbeests, numerous bird species and a variety of small species like the leopard tortoise, among others.

The park has also got an amazing landscape, which is flat allowing you to have incredible game drives to all the corners of the park. Binoculars are placed in various corners of the park to enable you view the distant animals and other fauna and flora species within the park. Seasonal Rivers run through the park including the Narus River that flows through the Narus valley that divides the park into two sections, Narus and Kidepo.

The communities around Kidepo Valley National Park are also worthy a visit because they are so unique and awesome. These include the IK on the slopes of the Morungole ranges in the Northern part of the park and the Karamajongs in the Southern part. Their unique culture and activities will blow your mind and can never be rubbed off your memory.

The remoteness of Kidepo valley national park comes with a distinctive advantage to her visitors to enjoy uninterrupted game views and other tourist activities within and around the Park. The long distance to Kidepo makes it free from the traffic and the congestion of visitors, which are evident in other Parks that are relatively near from the capital Kampala thus a reward to travellers who endure the long journey to this distant destination.

Posted in News, safaris, Uganda.