For over three decades, residents living around Katyobona Private Forest Reserve and Kagombe Forest Reserve in Kagadi District, have lived at the centre of a growing human-wildlife conflict.
Chimpanzee attacks have become a recurring threat, with several residents killed and many others injured as the animals increasingly venture out of the forests into gardens, homesteads and trading centres in search of food and shelter.
Local leaders and environmental conservationists attribute this to the degradation and fragmentation of forests due to human activities, including encroachment and also conversion of forestland into farmland.
They warn that continued destruction of the remaining forest cover will intensify the human-chimpanzee conflict, adding that conservation and habitat restoration measures must be speedily implemented.
Mr Patrick Abigaba, the Kagadi District Forestry Officer, said forest encroachment remains a challenge despite the intensified restoration and reforestation initiatives to recover degraded forest areas.
‘Forest encroachment has been a repeated case. However, as a district, we have tried to curb it. About 60 percent of the Kagombe Forest Reserve has been restored, in addition to about 40 percent of private forests,’ he said.
The villages that have recorded most of the attacks include Kahyooro A, Kahyooro B, Kijojo Nyamiiti, Karuswiga and Kyamajaka in Muhorro Town Council and Muhorro Sub-county.
In some of the affected areas, sections that were once covered by forest have been cleared and converted into agricultural land for food and cash crops.
The latest reported attack occurred on May 16, when a chimpanzee emerged from Katyobona Forest and attacked four-year-old Prisca Kengonzi, a daughter of Mr Isaac Gumisiriza, a resident of Karuswiga Village.
The child was reportedly playing alone in the family compound when the chimpanzee attacked her.
It inflicted serious injuries to her head and chest and fractured her left leg before fleeing as residents rushed to intervene.
In October 2025, another child identified as Miracle Ngonzize of Kahyooro B village was killed by a chimpanzee from Katyobona Forest.
For conservationists, such incidents demonstrate the consequences of shrinking wildlife habitats. They have called for tough penalties against people who destroy the environment.
Mr Abigaba said about Shs20 million has been spent on purchasing tree seedlings for reforestation, although he noted that the natural resources sector remains underfunded.
According to him, only about Shs40 million is allocated to natural resources in the district budget. Mr Abigaba said communities could coexist with chimpanzees if residents adopted practices that reduce confrontation with the animals.
Ms Leoniya Tibyanjururwa, the LC1 chairperson for Karuswiga East in Muhorro Town Council, said children and other community members have been among the victims, while domestic animals such as goats have also been attacked.
‘I recall that three children were killed and nine critically injured, including my two siblings and others whom I no longer remember. To my dismay, reports were made, but no permanent measures have been put in place. Domestic animals like goats have also been attacked,’ she said.
Ms Tibyanjururwa called for stronger government intervention, including protection and restoration of the remaining forest cover.
She said most residents depend on their small plots of land for their livelihoods, adding that they have not deliberately encroached on the forest, although they collect firewood and medicinal plants from the surrounding areas.
Mr Kutesa Swale Kadoma, an environmental conservationist and founder of Friends of Chimpanzees in Kagadi, said about 100 people have been attacked by chimpanzees over the past 30 years, with seven deaths recorded.
He said the conflict dates back to the 1990s and has continued as forest habitats continue to come under increasing pressure from human activities.
Mr Kadoma estimates that the forest once covered about 2,000 hectares but has been reduced to approximately 15 hectares because of encroachment and conversion of forestland into farmland.
‘People have destroyed forests for maize growing, sugarcane and other food crops. The fact that chimps have to leave, they move around looking for food. Unfortunately, forests where they could search for food were destroyed, forcing movement,’ he said.
The loss of forest cover has therefore created what conservationists describe as a habitat squeeze, a situation where wildlife populations are confined to increasingly smaller and fragmented areas, while human settlements and agricultural land continue to expand.
Mr Kadoma said intact forests can provide chimpanzees with food, shelter and space, reducing their need to enter human settlements.
He said Friends of Chimpanzees has continued distributing indigenous tree seedlings to community members as part of efforts to restore degraded habitats.
Mr Simon Karungi, a local conservationist, said the destruction of wildlife habitats has implications beyond the immediate conflict between communities and chimpanzees.
He said wildlife is an important component of Uganda’s tourism economy and that the degradation of natural habitats could undermine the country’s conservation and tourism objectives.
‘Uganda is reaping big from the tourism sector. If tourist attractions are threatened, the country is also losing,’ he said.
Chimpanzees are among Uganda’s important wildlife species, attracting tourists interested in primate tracking and nature-based tourism.
Since this year began, the district leadership, led by Ms Caroline Nanshemeza, the resident district commissioner, has waged war against all encroachers in the district, issuing a stern warning, urging them to vacate wetlands immediately or face arrest.
Mr Fredrick Ataho Barisanyuka, the district councillor representing Muhorro Town Council, said the Uganda Wildlife Authority has acquired about 30 acres of land as part of efforts to restore forest cover and address human-wildlife conflict.
‘To reduce the reported cases of chimpanzee attacks, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has already compensated about 17 homesteads, securing 30 acres of land for forest cover restoration,’ he said.