By Jamillah Kemigisa
Two residents of Kasese District are nursing serious injuries after a stray hippopotamus from Queen Elizabeth National Park attacked them in Nyamwamba Division, Kasese Municipality.
John Owe, 56, is currently admitted at Canopus Health Care after being mauled while tending to his garden near the Nyamwamba stream. He suspects the hippo strayed from the nearby Nyamwamba River.
Seventeen-year-old Junior Bwambale was also attacked in the same area and is now receiving treatment at Mt. St. Mary’s Hospital. Medics say he is in stable condition.
Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers quickly responded to the incident and successfully drove the hippo back into the park before it could injure more residents.
Nyamwamba Division Chairperson, Pimako Kasereka, has renewed calls for UWA to fast-track the installation of electric fences to protect communities living along the park’s borders.
UWA spokesperson, Bashir Hangi, expressed sympathy for the victims and pledged that the authority will alert the relevant agencies to support the injured and their families with medical bills.
Human–wildlife conflict remains a persistent challenge for communities neighboring Queen Elizabeth National Park. In August 2023, residents of Kanyangeya Cell reported that seven stray hippos had been terrorizing the area, forcing UWA rangers to intervene and kill one of them to reduce the risk.
Similar incidents have been recorded in the past: in July 2023, a fisherman at Kahendero Fish Landing Site was hospitalized after a hippo attacked him while fetching water from Lake George. Just a month earlier, over 300 youths working on brick production along the banks of the Nyamwamba River were forced to abandon their activities after a buffalo repeatedly charged at them and destroyed crops.
These recurring incidents underscore the urgent need for long-term preventive measures, including electric fencing and continuous community sensitization, to minimize the risk of wildlife attacks and protect both people and animals.
