Conservationists warn against feeding the wild

As Uganda joined the rest of the world yesterday to mark the World Snake Day, animal conservationists warned against throwing food to wild animals.

According to Ms Edith Kabesiime, the Wildlife Campaign Manager of the World Animal Protection, said the current trend mainly by travellers will make wild animals lose their natural instinct of hunting and resort to camping along roads to wait for food.

“There is an increasing trend by foreign tourists and even us locals of throwing food at the wild animals, especially on the highways, and you find these animals along the roads especially the monkeys,” Ms Kabesiime said on Friday in Kampala during a press briefing ahead of yesterday’s World Snake Day.

“…From the ecological perspective, these animals have their own food that they feed on so by feeding them, you are introducing foreign food. Animals evolve as wild animals, they hunt, they know where to get their food,” she added.

Ms Kabesiime said with this, they might lose their natural instinct.  
“Over a period of time, two of three generations, the young monkeys will learn that there is no other way of finding food rather than waiting for passengers along the road. They might lose their natural scheme of looking for food.” she added.

The other danger associated with throwing food to the wild animals, according to Ms Kabesiime, is them infecting the humans with respiratory diseases such as Ebola, Sas and Covid-19 among others.

Mr Bashir Hangi, the head of Communications and Public Relations at the Uganda Wild Life Authority, concurred with Ms Kabesiime and also cautioned travellers against throwing edibles at the wild.
He said as the Authority, they keep on sensitizing against the vice given the many disadvantages it brings along with.

“Travellers are not supposed to throw food to the wild animals since these animals are born with a natural instinct to hunt on their own. We have always sensitised the travellers not to throw food at the wild though we encourage them to park and look at them,” Mr Hangi said on Friday in a telephone interview.

There have scenarios of travellers throwing food at mainly apes is visible at Karuma Bridge along Gulu Highway, in Busitema along Jinja-Tororo Highway, in Kyenjojo and Kichwamba in Kasese District.

About World Snake Day

World Snake Day is used to increase awareness about the different species of snake all around the world. Snakes tend to have a negative connotation and a lot of people are scared of them.