Protecting every animal in Uganda’s national parks and protected regions falls to Uganda Wildlife Authority. Among the National Parks are Mount Rwenzori, Mount Elgon, Semliki, Lake Mburo, Kibale Forest National Parks; Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls, Bwindi Impenetrable, Mgahinga, Kidepo Valley As we enter the second half of 2024, Uganda Wildlife Authority has begun some creative projects that deserve recognition.

Bringing giraffes into Lake Mburo National Park

To boost park visitation, the Uganda Wildlife Authority successfully moved fifteen giraffes from Murchison Falls National Park to Lake Mburo National Park on July 1, 2024. Giraffes were found in Lake Mburo National Park vanished in the 1960s owing to human-animal conflicts. Ecologically, giraffes can thrive there; we are convinced that visitors will most likely rise consequently resulting in increased tourism revenue.

Discounted Gorilla Permits

Beginning this campaign in 2024 while Uganda was commemorating its fifty years of independence, Uganda Wildlife authority was Low season gorilla permits have thus been provided by UWA in April, May, and November, when international none residents only pay USD 350, and foreign residents with working visas for Uganda only pay USd 350 per gorilla permit each trip. This has helped tour companies boost revenues during slow seasons and generally raise Uganda’s visitor count.

gorilla permits’ rescheduling

Uganda Wildlife Authority first couldn’t reschedule any bought gorilla permits from one date to another, but now it may as long as one has a sincere explanation for why this transfer to the next year needs to take place.

This is aimed to reduce losses to consumers and tour companies purchasing gorilla permits both in advance and during operations. Unexpected events have their clientele unable to walk gorillas on certain days. All parties have welcomed this; for one to reschedule these permissions, he/she must send a letter to UWA stating why they want to shift to new dates and must provide receipts of paid licenses. They could authorize this or not based on the daily terms and conditions.

Free gorilla authorizations for AUTO

Signing a memorandum of agreement with the Association of Uganda Tour Operators, Uganda Wildlife Authority sought to honor significant tourist company partners by giving AUTO many gorilla licenses for every thirty minutes bought by Association members. Every after three months, we will set this schedule; AUTO will then offer these gorilla permits to its members at a reduced price, which will be decided upon later on.

UWA Digital Cards

Uganda’s wildlife Authority instituted the card system wherein all park admission fees, gorilla and chimp permits have been replaced with cards rather than paper as used before. This is known as cashless tourism, in which case tour guides now carry cards instead of cash. Although this was first opposed, tour operators have embraced it and it is running well now.