The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Mrs Doreen Katusiime has called for strict law enforcement, long term monitoring, and prosecution of Wildlife criminals to save the big cats.

Mrs Katusiime was opening the CITES Big Cats Taskforce meeting at Protea Hotel Entebbe. She said that in order to protect the big cats, enforcement of the law should not be an option but a matter of imperative. She also observed the need for public awareness and capacity development for those involved in fighting wildlife crime as well as sharing information across actors and relevant entities.

She said that harmonizing synergies for regional and international collaboration in fighting illegal wildlife trade and trafficking is paramount for the success of the entities that are fighting the vice.

Mrs. Katusiime noted that, Big Cats play important ecological, social cultural and economic roles. They are important totems for many ethnic tribes, attract tourists, contribute to revenue generation, employment and improved livelihoods of the people. She further observed that, the cats population is increasingly declining and getting threatened with extinction largely due to habitat loss, indiscriminate retaliatory killings, limited food abundance disease and high demand for their body parts. 

She expressed great appreciation to the CITES Secretariat for partnering with Uganda to convene the Big Cats meeting that will among others discuss the plight of the cats, share emerging conservation issues and challenges, best management practices, identify potential regional and international collaboration opportunities, identify threats and generate appropriate strategies for effective conservation of the Big Cats.

The meeting brings together over 90 delegates from Big Cat range States in Africa, Asia and Latin America as well as representatives from local and international Civil Society Organizations and development partners. Big Cats include Lions, Leopards, Cheetah, Tigers and Jaguar among others.