As Kampala urbanises, vervet monkeys are running out of space to hide. This has pushed them against their human relatives in a turf war, writes Gerald Tenywa
In Naalya, a suburb of Kampala, vervet monkeys have come too close for comfort. This has pushed Margret Magembe, a landlady, to her wits end. Tenants have abandoned her apartments for fear of the foraging monkeys.
She accuses monkeys of sneaking into residences and stealing food. To her, they have become a nuisance as they play on the roofs of houses.
“They disturb and eat our food; there are too many, and some of my tenants have left because of them. They also come with many babies,” she says, adding that when they come, we feel invaded. “They stay here for about two weeks and return after some time. They destroy crops, play, and excrete on the roof, and they are causing fear that their droppings may end up contaminating water harvested from the roof.”
She added, “I lost three tenants last year over related complaints that I was unable to address. They fear their children will get sick.”
In her view, the mischievous monkeys have overstepped their boundaries. She wants them to be expelled from Naalya. “Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) should take away their monkeys or compensate me for my property,” she says.
She added, “UWA came and took away two monkeys, and this has not helped because the monkeys that were left behind keep causing trouble.”
The mischief by the vervet monkeys is repeated many times around Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe, and Mukono. “I no longer harvest anything from the garden of bananas and guava trees,” says Mercy Kiraga, a resident of Kirinya in Bweyogerere. “The monkeys have become perfect at the game of picking fruits because they will strike just before they ripen.”.
UWA’s Manager for Awareness on Problem Animals, Vanice Mirembe, says Kampala’s monkey problem is growing and affecting what the human population treasures most, including cars. “It can pluck off a side mirror from the car and play with it,” says Mirembe, adding that they are fascinated by the reflections in the mirrors but will abandon the mirrors once they lose interest or get confronted or diverted by food.
Asked what they were going to do about proposals by people like Magembe, UWA’s executive director, Sam Mwandha, says the urban population has destroyed the trees that used to shelter the animals, thus displacing them from their habitats.
“Monkeys want trees and forests for fruits and shelter. But the trees have been cut down, and they have become homeless,” says Mwandha, adding that monkeys help in pollination and dispersing seeds.
The vervet monkeys feed on leaves, young shoots, bark, flowers, fruits, bulbs, roots, and grass. This vegetarian diet is supplemented with insects, eggs, baby birds, and some rodents.
But the trees and the bushy environment, which have always been favourable hunting grounds for these monkeys, are disappearing drastically in Kampala and parts of Mukono, Wakiso, and Entebbe. This means that the amount of food and its quality are disappearing, according to Mwandha.
The complaints have come from Makerere, Mulago, Gayaza, Wakiso, Naalya, Komamboga, Namugongo, Mukono, Lubaga, Mbalwa, Lubowa, Kasangati, Kitemu, Buddo, Bunamwaya, Lubowa, and State House.
Others are from Entebbe, Bweyogerere, Kireka, Kitukutwe, and Sonde, according to UWA’s reports on human-wildlife conflicts.
“This has always been a homeland for monkeys, but urbanisation is scaling up and eating away at their homes,” says Mwandha, adding that the human population is going to suffer the consequences.
Mwandha adds, “Flooding is now inevitable because most grounds have become bare and covered in concrete.’’
Apart from this, Mwandha says that ecological services are going to reduce further given that monkeys help pollinate flowers and disperse seeds as they move.
Decades of plunder
The trend of destruction started decades ago and has been picking up in recent years. This is because Kampala derives its name from a species of antelopes known as impalas, which are no more. Along Jinja Road, there is a place called Kyambogo, which means a place of buffaloes. The two species of animals, along with many others, have disappeared as a result of environmental destruction. Today, the vervet monkeys are remnants of what used to be a very rich ecological system, according to Dr. Patrick Atimnedi, UWA’s Senior Manager Veterinary Services.
According to Sarah Kyobe, a consultant and resident of Kakajjo in Bweyogerere, the vervet monkeys had a well-established homeland in the Namanve forest reserve. This was partly turned into an industrial park. “We never used to have a monkey problem until the mid-1990s, when development started encroaching on the environment,” she says.
In addition, the construction of Mandela Namboole Stadium resulted in displacements as virgin land in parts of what is now known as Kira Town Council was converted into residential areas.
Stranded monkeys
While nobody knows their population, sources say the estimated number of monkeys in Kampala and Greater Kampala could be over one million. Others say vervet monkeys are mobile and that many people could be seeing the same monkeys in different localities at different times and end up concluding that they are too many.
Atimnedi also knows that vervet monkeys are highly adaptive, meaning that they can withstand changes in the environment. “They can easily change their diet to survive the harsh environment,” he says.
For instance, monkeys have been observed feasting on the unclaimed solid waste that is carelessly discarded in parts of Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso, and Entebbe.
According to research, vervet monkeys at Nabugabo, near the shores of Lake Victoria, have adapted behaviorally to ecological challenges.
The primate group appeared to prosper by having a mixed feeding and ranging strategy. The monkeys were consuming a diverse diet that was heavily reliant on a few large fruiting trees, raiding crops, and using a small home range with intense use of specific areas, according to the research report titled “How do primates survive among humans?”
At the same time, monkeys suffered deaths caused by dog attacks, electrocution, poisoning to deter crop raiding, and hunting, according to Colin Chapman’s research report.
Chapman and other experts, including Dennis Twinomugisha, conducted the research study on groups of monkeys around Lake Nabugabo and compiled the research report.
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Solutions
In the past few years, UWA has received 230 cases of monkeys in the Kampala metropolitan area and captured 23, according to Mirembe.
“When we lay a trap, the way the monkeys behave, it will be the alpha male or the leader who enters the trap. Once the alpha male enters, the trap snaps. This scares the entire troop because they get to know that there is danger and look for safer areas,” says Mirembe.
Is this a solution? This is pushing a problem to another area. “We are creating awareness to minimise the destruction of the environment, but the expansive construction seems unstoppable,” says Mirembe.
In addition, UWA is befriending monkeys in Kampala so that they can give them a certain drug that will make them sleep and then take them away from Kampala. “We are trying to gain their trust, but they cannot eat anything thrown into their faces,” he says, adding, “We need time.”
Also, vervet monkeys outside protected areas were declared vermin about two decades ago. This means that managing them should be a responsibility of the local government in Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso, and Entebbe. “We have trained them (district officials), but they keep coming back to us because they do not have the capacity.”
In addition to capturing the monkeys, UWA is also preaching about integrating conservation into urban development. “I do not know who came up with this notion that development means cutting away trees. We can still build houses and also plant trees, particularly fruit trees,” says Mwandha.
Mwandha says that the fruit trees can help nourish humans and also favour monkeys, birds, and other organisms. “The human population in Kampala should learn how to share the landscape with wildlife,” he says.
The trees, forests, and wetlands also provide other ecological services to the residents of Kampala. This includes cleaning out the air, flood control, and releasing the clean water into Lake Victoria, according to Mwandha.
KCCA responds
Daniel NuweAbine, the acting spokesperson of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), says the restoration of the environment is a work in progress. “It is true that the habitats of monkeys are coming down. The government is taking stern steps to stop the destruction of the environment and ensure restoration.”
On the part of KCCA, he says there is a well-orchestrated move to restore the environment. “We are not only planting trees but also embracing concepts like urban forests, where we can grow forests to absorb excess carbon,” he says. “We have interventions at Nakawa where the Aga Khan have put in place an urban forest,” he says.
He added, “We are working with relative authorities such as the UWA, the National Environment Management Authority, and Rotary to ensure environmental restoration.”
Is this enough to ensure sustainability and save monkeys from eviction in Kampala? Only time will tell.
