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Busitema baboons raid taxis, gardens
By George Bita
THEY raided the taxi for bananas and bread. Mission over, they retreated with their booty. The fact that the raiders were baboons and the victims human beings - passengers on a commuter taxi - is causing a lot of concern among residents of Busitema Sub-county in Busia District.
It was not a one-off. According to the locals, incidents of baboons raiding vehicles moving through their “territory” are becoming frequent.
The baboons, which inhabit the Busitema forest reserve, have of late become very aggressive in their search for food, after failing to get enough from their traditional source — the forest.
The local population is living in fear of the marauding beasts, which go on the rampage between 9:00am and midday; their usual feeding time.
A signpost by the fence of the proposed Busitema University warns road users that they are about to enter baboon territory. But it doesn’t warn them about the raids.
According to Lawrence Odiro, a resident of Namayenje village in Busitema, the baboon problem has been around for a long time.
“They keep on snatching edibles from people travelling along the Bugiri-Tororo highway, especially near the junction to Busia town,” Odiro said.
He recalled a recent incident in which a two-year-old boy was killed by the baboons, a few metres away from where his parents were digging: “They placed the boy on the ground close to where they were digging. They only heard his screams muffled by shrieking baboons and rushed to rescue him, but found him dead.”
Patrick Mulemu, a local councillor, said the baboon menace had prompted the villagers to construct huts along the forest boundaries to keep the animals out of their gardens.
“Farmers have to stay in the fields to watch over their crop,” Mulemu added.
When they get into a millet field, the baboons just chew up everything like cattle grazing on grassland.
Mulemu said farmers lose almost a quarter of their produce to the baboons, either in the fields, or on the way home or market.
“Passengers in buses and taxis that ply the route are often harassed by the hungry baboons that crowd by the roadside. To escape their wrath, the commuters are forced to bribe them with bananas,” Mulemu said.
A security official at the Uganda Revenue Authority Busitema checkpoint, who preferred anonymity, said the baboons are common in the vicinity. “They are not a serious security threat unless provoked. They seem to have human-like feelings and therefore require understanding from road users,” he said.
Published on: Saturday, 7th April, 2007
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