NEW VISION (Kampala, Uganda) 15 February 06 UWA saves Lubigi python
A giant python caused a stir in Lubigi swamp on Masaka road on Tuesday when residents who were worshipping it resisted a Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) team to relocate it, reports Gerald Tenywa.
After the reptile had been rescued, Vernice Mirembe of UWA said the residents, who had pitched camp at the edge of the swamp for four days, hurled missiles at UWA’s team.
She said some of them were paying homage to a spirit called Mayanja that is believed to reincarnate in pythons. They had brought eggs, beer, coffee berries, barkcloth and fetishes as sacrifice.
“The reptile was exposed to stress because of the noisy crowd and the food they had brought would have poisoned it,’’ Mirembe said.
Curious crowd thronged the swamp from Natete, Kyengera and Bulenga and disrupted traffic as they searched for the snake that had retreated into the swamp.
Some onlookers claimed the python was a blessing from a spirit in the Lubigi swamp that runs across Wakiso, Mityana and Luweero districts.
Residents said the python was seen on Sunday but disappeared when a crowd gathered. It reappeared the following day to bask in the sun.
Mirembe said the python was not a spirit but one of the many reptiles living in the swamp. She said their habitat was shrinking due to encroachment, forcing them to the edges of the wetland.
Edward Kabagyo of the Uganda Wildlife Education centre at Entebbe, where the reptile was relocated, said they had rescued three pythons from the area in the last four months.
UWA saves Lubigi python