WILDLIFE REPORT
Two Makerere University students travelling through Kikorongo fisheries checkpoint were caught with peculiar objects in their luggage.
They included 31 monkeys and Seven snakes: 22 black and white colobus monkeys; 15 of which were alive and seven dead, nine black monkeys, five dead and four alive and seven Gabon vipers , four of them dead were recovered from the students.
SCP Fred Enanga, the Spokesperson of Uganda Police Force told journalists on Monday that authorities foiled the attempt to smuggle these animals believed to be of high dietary values in Democratic Republic of Congo.
“These are 31 monkeys and seven Gabon vipers that they were trafficking and had been packed in 15 boxes and being transported in a vehicle at Kikorongo fisheries checkpoint,” Enanga said.
He identified the suspects as Fredrick Lubega aka Ricky, 24 and Isborn Ankunda, 21, both students of Makerere University. Enanga alleged that the trafficked animals were to be exported to Europe and Asia for monetary purposes.
“We established that in DRC, they were to be exported to markets in Europe and Asia for monetary purposes but also for dietary purposes in DRC.”
He added that the species were handed over to Uganda Wildlife Authority officials to set free live ones to their natural habitats while the suspects await court.
