By UCU Reporter
MUKONO- Scores of monkeys in Mukono district continue to face an existential threat from land owners and residents who are taking away their habitats.
As a result, the monkeys’ numbers in the Mukono neighborhood have kept on increasing. At Uganda Christian University, which is a few meters away from Mukono town, it’s common to see monkeys playing in the compound or even in the dining hall as students go about their business.
Steven Kolawole Tijesunimi, a UCU international student from Nigeria, said, “The monkeys are fine and I love seeing them at campus. Many people pay to see them in zoos, but here they are in abundance.”
He on the other side expressed his worries about monkeys being possible disease spreaders.
“You know, the origin of a number of viral diseases is attributed to primates such as monkeys,” said Tijesunimi.
On the other hand, Jimmy Siyasa, UCU Spokesperson, said that the university community has learnt to peacefully live side by side with the monkeys.
“We have these monkeys in the compound because we have a forest.” We have not registered any incident of an attack on a member of our community,” Siyasa Said.
He, however, noted that there have been cases of monkeys sneaking into staff quarters in search of food.
“We always advise our staff members and students to keep their food stores and kitchen safe. We also tell students not to attack the monkeys.” He warned.
On that note, Bashir Hangi, the Uganda Wildlife Authority Communications Manager, commented that they are not certain of the number of monkeys in urban Mukono and around the university, but in case an animal becomes uncontrollable to the community, they capture them.
“We do capture and translocate problem animals and also intensify our sensitization effort,” he noted.
