Elephant electrocuted in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Kampala.
An elephant has died in Queen Elizabeth National Park after sustaining injuries warders say were a result of electrocution from a damaged ground transformer.
According to Mr Jossy Muhangi, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) spokesperson, the adult bull elephant estimated to be aged 35, died in Mweya Peninsula of the expansive 1,978 km national park.
“The carcass of the elephant was on Monday morning found lying near a ground transformer with cables attached to a nearby electric pole. The wire mesh fence surrounding the transformer, a few metres from the Visitor Information Centre, had been freshly smashed most likely by the jumbo trying to force his way through the enclosure,” Mr Muhangi said in a statement.
Technicians of power distributor, Umeme temporarily switched off the electricity supply in the area for UWA wardens to recover the much sought for tusks from the carcass and for the veterinary experts to carry out a postmortem.
Mr Muhangi said this is the third case of electrocution in the park in less than four years.
Two other cases involved elephants in Katunguru and Fig tree areas of the park in Rubirizi District.
Mr Muhangi said the wildlife authority and Umeme will issue a plan designed to stop a repeat of such cases.
Elephants are prevalent in most forested areas in the country. However, according to a 2014 census, Queen Elizabeth National Park Queen was found to harbour most with 2,913 jumbos herding there.
Murchison Falls National Park has 1,330 elephants, Kidepo National Park hosts 407 while Tooro Semuliki Wildlife reserve has 27 of them.
Elephants are also found in Kibale Forest Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga and Sango bay area of Rakai.
The African mammals can potentially live for up to 70-years but are mainly afflicted by; obesity, poaching, herpes and stress when they are confined in limited space yet they are very social animals.
The entire country population of elephants is estimated to be between 40,000-50,000 herd.
The numbers
5,000
The number of elephants that increased in Uganda due to the creation of UWA which enforced conservation and tackled poaching according to a June 2014 report by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
