Supporting the Uganda Wildlife Authority

The global shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic temporarily eliminated tourism to Uganda. The anti-poaching units operated by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) depend on the incoming tourism dollars to fund their efforts to stop the killing of Uganda’s wildlife. Due to the decrease in funding, the UWA patrols were only operating at 60% of their normal capacity, resulting in increased opportunity for poachers.
Unfortunately this fear became a reality on June 1, 2020, when a well-known and beloved silverback gorilla named Rafiki was killed by a poacher in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

The Kartagener family was deeply saddened by the tragic news and wanted to find a way to help to ensure that the population of the endangered mountain gorillas did not suffer any further losses.

The KAI Foundation made contact with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) with the assistance of our partners on the ground in Uganda. Through a series of calls, it became clear that the abrupt cutoff of tourism quickly dried up the cash flow that was used to equip the anti-poaching rangers with the necessary supplies to make their regular rounds and effectively keep poaching in check.

The Foundation quickly decided to organize a raffle to raise funds for UWA, so they could return to their normal patrols. We secured two gorilla trekking permits ($1,400 value) from UWA and sold raffle tickets to our network of donors, family, friends, and industry colleagues.
It only costs US$20 - $25/day to cover a rangers salary, food rations, protective gear and first aid kits, so we sold raffles for $25 and raised more than $7,700 for the cause.

The funds were sent to Uganda and thanks to the KAI Foundation’s efforts, the UWA was able to operate normal patrols for approximately two months solely on our contribution.
Even after the raffle concluded, people learned of our efforts and continued to send donations, which further increased our impact.

The winner of the raffle was able to travel to Uganda the following year and view the wildlife that her contributions to the Foundation helped preserve.

In terms of the situation in Uganda, fortunately Rafiki was the only known case of a gorilla being poached over the pandemic period, and the man responsible for his death was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

While this initiative was a one-time project by the KAI Foundation, we remain very active in Uganda tourism, and through these efforts we continue to help various causes through out partners based in Kampala. We are currently supporting the Kibira Project, a reforestation effort in Kibale Forest National Park & Awegys Secondar School in Kampala.