Crop raiding
This accounts for the highest volume of conflict incidents along the park perimeter, with elephants, hippopotamuses, and Cape buffalo responsible for most reported damage.
UWA field records from 2023 indicate that crop raiding incidents peak between June and August, coinciding with the maturation of millet and simsim crops in buffer-zone parishes.
A single elephant herd can destroy an entire hectare of subsistence crops in one night, wiping out a household’s seasonal food supply and cash income at the same time.
Geographic hotspots
These concentrate along the Victoria Nile corridor in Nwoya District and the seasonal floodplain of Buliisa District near Lake Albert.
The Nile corridor in Nwoya records the highest frequency of elephant incursions, with UWA problem animal control teams responding to an average of 40 to 60 incidents per month during peak agricultural seasons.
In Buliisa, hippopotamuses move from the lake and river channels into adjacent rice and cassava gardens, particularly in the parishes of Kigwera and Ngwedo.
Livestock predation
This occurs primarily in the Karuma Wildlife Reserve buffer zone along the park’s eastern boundary in Kiryandongo District.
Lions and spotted hyenas target cattle herds grazing within 2 to 3 kilometers of the reserve edge, with recorded losses of 15 to 25 head per year in the most affected sub-counties.
Predation incidents escalate during the dry season when wild prey disperses, and domestic livestock becomes the most accessible protein source for large carnivores.