Family whose baby was injured by chimpanzee cry for help

Parents of a baby who was injured by a chimpanzee in Maramu village, Budongo Sub-County, Masindi district on Wednesday is crying for financial assistance to help them in treating the baby.

The four-month-old boy was grabbed from its mother’s back by the chimpanzee in the forest where she had gone to fetch water and sustained injuries in the private parts as the mother struggled to rescue it from the irate ape.

Agnes Azaru, the boy’s mother who is attending to the boy at Masindi Kitara hospital, said they do not have money for the medical bills and the associated costs including feeding while at the hospital.

Azaru therefore wants well-wishers particularly Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), a government agency mandated to manage and conserve wildlife to give them money that will cater for these expenses.

She also appeals to the authorities to construct water sources for them to enable them stop fetching water from the forests in order to avoid similar occurrences.

Dr. Michael Otaro, a medic at the aforesaid health facility told reporters that the baby sustained injuries on the scrotal sack.

Otaro noted that the condition will be managed but it needs time since the injury is in a very sensitive body part.

The Budongo sub-county chairperson, Julius Kyahura, said cases of chimpanzees grabbing children from their mothers are common in the sub county, revealing that this is the third one in two years.

He, however, criticized UWA for not responding positively each time such incidents happen despite being informed about them.

The chairperson says the sub county has embarked on constructing boreholes in the areas near the forests in order to avoid the similar attacks in the area.

The district chairperson Cosmas Byaruhanga expressed concern about the attack, revealing that he had notified UWA officials about the incident and they were waiting for a report from the police about it so that they could do something.

Byaruhanga advised the family of the baby to use the law that compels UWA to compensate the people affected by wild animals so that they can get compensated for the attack on the baby.