Elephants attack Buliisa Hospital, destroy property
The attack on Buliisa Hospital comes less than a month after an elephant trampled a woman to death in the same village.
Buliisa: Elephants from Murchison Falls National Park have attacked Buliisa General Hospital, causing significant destruction to property.
Hannington Tibaijuka, the hospital’s Health Educator, reported on Monday morning that the elephants first vandalized the hospital’s chain-link fence before entering the premises, where they destroyed pawpaw and mango trees.
Tibaijuka, who did not disclose the number of elephants involved, said the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday at around 2 a.m. Fortunately, no human casualties were reported.
Hospital authorities immediately contacted the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), which intervened and drove the elephants back to the park.
The matter has since been reported to the police, and officials from the agricultural office and engineering department are expected to assess the extent of the damage.
Although this is the first time elephants have invaded the hospital, Tibaijuka emphasized that the animals have previously attacked and killed several community members, particularly those living near the park. He urged UWA to expedite the fencing of the park to prevent further incidents.
“We are also affected when elephants attack the community members because they come here seeking treatment or postmortem examinations,” he noted.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Wilson Kagoro, the Chief Warden of Murchison Falls National Park, were unsuccessful, as he did not respond to calls by press time.
The attack on Buliisa Hospital comes less than a month after an elephant trampled a woman to death in the same village. Local authorities report that at least five people have been killed by elephants in Buliisa Sub-county over the past two years.
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