Uganda is concerned that recent outbreaks of both Ebola and Marburg viruses are having a negative impact on their tourism industry. Now the Tourism Ministry and Health Ministry are pondering wildlife culls in the country’s national parks to try to halt the diseases.
Some tourists have already cancelled planned visits to the country after the outbreaks and the Tourism Ministry last week slashed the costs of visiting the gorillas from USD500 to USD350 a day for certain periods over the next 6 months. Now could the best time for booking your gorillas viewing at the best prices.
The cull is being considered as it is known that wildlife can carry the disease – however the spread to humans seems to be from eating the meat of the wildlife – Ugandans seem to have a taste for bushmeat. If you are visiting the country and not planning on eating the wildlife then the risks of contracting the disease is pretty minimal.
There are questions over how this cull is to be accomplished if it moves from consideration stage to active policy. How are the authorities going to test and determine which animals are to be culled. The disease is known to be carried by a wide range of wildlife from chimpanzees and monkeys to buffalo and hippo.
While there may be an urgent need to tackle the outbreaks it is hard to imagine Uganda and the national parks ever getting over the bad publicity that would be caused if they undertook a mass cull of chimps or hippos. surely the best way of preventing the disease from spreading from wildlife to humans would be to stop eating them?
All deaths from the viruses are important and preventing further deaths is essential but the numbers of people falling victim are not large. 14 people so far this year in Uganda have died from Ebola and the recent outbreak of Marburg resulted in 10 deaths.
Tourism Minister, Maria Mutagamba said, “We are looking at several ways of fighting the deadly diseases. Fencing the game parks so that local people do not access them would be the best option but it is very expensive. We shall eliminate animals suspected to be carrying viruses of Ebola and Marburg.“
The biggest question being asked is if this cull is not just to be an indiscriminate cull of wildlife in an area that has seen an infection then how are the authorities to target the cull – How feasible and affordable will it be to check each animal being killed to see if it carrying the virus?
The Ugandan wildlife department thinks that is going to be a difficult if not impossible task to identify wildlife that is carrying the 2 viruses. They believe that the blame for the outbreaks should lie with those who illegally poach and sell game meat. It should be the poachers that are tackled and dealt with not the wildlife.
The Ministry of Tourism may be concerned over the cancelling tourists because of the outbreak but the risks to the tourist industry if they decide on an indiscriminate cull of wildlife would be far greater. If they progress then they can expect an international public outcry as the first chimpanzees or hippos are killed en masse.
