The big news coming from Africa this month is that Uganda has issued hunting quotas for new areas and is approving new companies to operate in that country. You’ll remember our previous reports about Uganda and how the only operator authorized to provide hunting safaris there has been Ugandan native Kaka Matama of Game Trails Safaris, booked through Jensen Safaris (jensen@ icon.co.za) in South Africa. I now know that the Uganda Wildlife Authority has issued hunting quotas to at least one other company and is reviewing bids for other concessions. Plus, it has offered some additional areas to Matama. I learned of these developments from well-known Africa writer Peter Flack, who recently hunted in Uganda with Matama and learned about the other allocations during his trip.
You may have seen the report written by Flack for Rowland Ward’s e-mail newsletter, distributed to their members in early July. He reports seeing good numbers of game and shooting quality animals, including a 33-7/8 inch Ugandan defassa waterbuck and a 13½-inch Nile bushbuck, both open for hunting only in Uganda right now. He also took a 27½-inch impala and says there were substantial numbers of plains game where he hunted. Matama’s area encompasses 180,000 acres bordering Lake Mburo National Park, about 240 kilometers southwest of Kampala in southern Uganda. Importantly, however, Flack says that Matama could be picking up two additional concessions, one in the Katonga Reserve and the other in Victoria Flats.....
