VISITORS BRING DEADLY WEED TO QUEEN ELIZABETH NP
A toxic weed reported in the Uganda about a year ago, has infected Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda, causing danger to thousands of animals and plants. The Queen Elizabeth conservation area manager Mr TOM OKello said that visitors could have brought the weed into the Uganda .
He added that the weed is believed to be a native of Mexico and could have been brought into Uganda about four years ago by some unknown people. The plant is thought to have been introduced into Uganda through Ethiopia and Kenya. Mr Okello said the weed had been sighted in several parts of the park, including areas around Mweya Safari Lodge. The weed is poisonous to livestock if consumed in large quantities.
He promised that plans to start uprooting and burning the weed will be finalized by the end of this week. Despite looking beautiful and smelling sweet, the weed is said to be among the world’s 10 most dangerous weeds.
On contact with the human body, it causes a burning effect that makes the skin peel off. Inhaling pollen from the flowers causes an asthma-like illness or persistent flu-like symptoms in humans. Cattle that eat the weed produce foul-smelling milk and may even die. In September, a team led by Dr. Gadi Gumisiriza of the National Agricultural Research Organisation said the weed had been detected in 12 districts.
The Kasese district crop protection officer, Charles Nyamutale, said the killer weed is usually spread by humans, birds and animals. Each plant is capable of producing between 25,000 and 100,000 seeds each season, which can persist in the soil for a long time. Nyamutale said the situation has been worsened because large areas of the park and neighbouring cattle grazing areas are also choking with another shrub called lantana camara. Nyamutale said lantana camara. forms thickets that harbour tsetse flies, which cause nagana in animals and sleeping sickness in humans.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the second largest park in Uganda and brings in about sh2b of the sh17b revenue generated from the country’s national parks plans to redeem it from this deadly weed are going on .
By Tanah Hadijah
Uganda Safari News
