A man is Kisoro district, has been sentenced to 11-years in jail after pleading guilty to the charges of killing a 25-year-old gorilla from Bwindi Impenetrable National park.
Rafiki went missing early June and a search was mounted only to find a dead body inside the park in Hakato area.
Felix Byabakama a resident of Murole Village in Kisoro Village killed Rafiki the Silverback of Nkuringo Gorilla group in early June 2020 while hunting bush meat.
According to the postmortem report from Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Rafiki was killed after a sharp object penetrated his internal organs.
Byamukama was arrested after reports claiming he was in the park hunting when the incident happened on June 1 at Hakato.
He was arrested alongside 3 others including Evarist Bampabenda, Valence Museveni and Yonasi Mubangizi,
Byamukama claims to have speared the gorilla to death in self-defense after the group charged at him while he was chasing a wild pig.
At the time of his arrest, Byabakama was found in possession of bush pig meat and many hunting tools like rope snares and a dog hunting bell.
He was charged for killing a gorilla and illegally entering a national park where he also killed other animals.
While appearing in court on Wednesday, Byabakama pleaded guilty to the crimes he committed and was served his sentence by the Kabale Chief Magistrate Court justice, Julius Borere.
Byabakama’s co-accused denied the charges and they were remanded to Kisoro Prisons.
