A Ugandan man was sentenced Thursday to an 11-year prison term for having notably killed a rare mountain gorilla in June in the Bwindi Forest Park in the southwest of the country. This silver-backed animal, named Rafiki (friend in Swahili), was about 25 years old.
Felix Byamukama, a resident of a neighboring village, had been arrested and admitted to having killed the monkey with a spear. He had claimed to have acted in self-defense, according to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA), which announces that the man killed "other animals" in the park. The suspect pleaded guilty to three counts: entering a protected area illegally, and also killing an antelope and a bush pig.
An "endangered" species
"We are relieved that justice has been served for Rafiki and it should serve as an example for others who kill animals," said UWA Executive Director Sam Mwandha. Rafiki was the dominant male of a family of 17 gorillas, the first to be accustomed to the presence of humans in the park, to allow tourists to come and observe him.
The UWA had described Rafiki's death as a "blow" as intensive efforts brought the mountain gorilla from "critically endangered" to "endangered" on the red list of species. threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The population of mountain gorillas, present in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is estimated at around 1,000 individuals, up from 680 in 2008.
Increase in poaching
Rafiki's death came as the frequency of poaching cases has increased in Uganda since strict containment was put in place to fight the coronavirus.
"We have observed an increase in poaching cases in our national parks after the closure of our tourist poles because of the Covid-19", told Sam Mwandha. “We're looking for who's behind it. Because of the confinement, are communities near parks preying on animals to survive? Is a criminal network behind the increase in poaching? Does the absence of tourism in the parks make it easier for poachers? He asked himself.
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- Gorillas
- Animal protection
- World
- Threatened species
- Monkey
- Uganda