The mover and shaker in Uganda is Steve Rann of Game Trails Safaris, who has built upon a hunting effort begun there several years ago by a Ugandan named Kaka Matama. One thing that gave Ugandan hunting a shot in the arm this year was the authorization of a CITES quota on leopard, and Conservation Force's John J. Jackson, III's pledge to help US hunters try to import their trophies. One US hunter this past year took Jackson up on that offer and hunted a leopard only to come away empty-handed.
It is not certain by any means that Jackson will be able to gain permission to import leopards from Uganda into the US, by the way. US hunters booking a safari to Uganda need to keep that in mind. Fortunately, the problem does not affect most non-US hunters, who can freely import leopard from Uganda now that CITES has established a quota.
Here is how Rann summarized the 2007 season in Uganda in an e-mail he sent me near press time,:
Things went well in Uganda in 2007. We shot some very good trophies despite the fact that hunting was a bit harder this year than normal due to very dry conditions brought on by the rains being late. I'm still working with Kaka Matama. The current area that we are hunting measures 250 square kilometers. The hunting area is a mixed-use area that is, there are cattle and people in the hunting area.
We have one camp now that can accommodate four hunters, and we're looking to build an additional camp in 2008. We took a full........(continued)
