LONE ELEPHANT ‘SETTLES’ IN KATUNGURU
Tourists and Ugandan travellers alike are reportedly now able to ‘greet’ a lone elephant who has made it a habit to come out of Queen Elizabeth National Park and take strolls through Katunguru, a village located at the Kazinga Channel bridge and the turn off into the park’s Mweya Safari Lodge.
Uganda’s leading newspaper the New Vision has over the weekend broken the story, accompanied by a picture via http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/749641.
Residents at Katunguru reportedly confirmed that the elephant regularly ‘visits’ but has not shown any hostility towards people and property nor behaved in an aggressive fashion. One UWA official in regular contact with this correspondent, under usual condition of anonymity, confirmed that ‘we are aware of this and our staff at QENP know that animals at times stray from the main park area, so we try to lure them back into the park. In this case it is monitored as the elephant is not violent, otherwise it may have to be properly relocated to avoid damage and claims against UWA’.
It is noteworthy that the Katunguru bridge was brought after the second World War from the UK, where it had been used during the war years as an alternative bridge across the river Thames and a commemorative plague reminds visitors to the site of this historic fact. The Kazinga Channel connects lakes Edward and George, both part of Queen Elizabeth National Park.
