By Geoffrey Baluku
Early this year, the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) changed its entry fees structure that take effect on July 1st 2024. According to Dr. James Musinguzi, the UWEC Executive Director, the increment will help them improve the services being rendered at the zoo, and in the process, it will help attract more tourists to visit the centre.
“Effective July 1st 2024, the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) will be adjusting its entry fees to enhance visitor experience and support animal welfare efforts,” said Dr. Musinguzi, who further added that the centre had in the last 10 years not increased its fees, yet the cost of items needed to care for the animals in the zoo has been on the rise.
In the new charges, that take effect on July 1st, 2024, all East African adults will be required to pay Shs20,000 for entrance from Shs10,000, while citizen East African children (3-14 years) will pay Shs10,000 from Shs5,000. Booked School groups (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday) will also pay Shs8,000 from Shs4,000 per student, while for Booked School groups on Thursday and Friday, the fees will be shs 8,000 from shs 5,000. Tertiary institutions fee were also raised from Shs6000 to shs8000, with accompanying school teachers fees being retained at shs10000.
For un-booked school groups the fee was increased to shs10000.
On the other hand, the fees for non resident adults and non resident children (3-14 years) was unchanged and remains at $15 and $10 per person respectively, with the resident adults and children fees remaining unchanged at $5.
The UWEC Executive Director, however also noted that fees for other services such as “Behind the Scenes Experience,” Chimpanzee up close, keeper for a day, the exclusive VIP experience remain unchanged.
Originally founded in the 1950s and better known as Entebbe Zoo, UWEC that was recently merged with Uganda Wildlife Authority, is not only a fun and exciting place to see and learn about the animals of Uganda and the ecosystems in which they live, but also a home for orphaned, confiscated and injured wildlife.
UWEC is not a zoo in a conventional sense and neither is it a Safari Park, but it is a center where wildlife education is combined with leisure. At UWEC you will come across free ranging Vervet monkeys and a family troop of DeBraza monkeys in the jungle of centre’s hillside forest. Over 120 bird species can be watched ranging from the famous African fish eagle, the Great Blue Turaco to Hammerkops, Giant Kingfisher and even the smallest sun birds.
The leisure centre which is open daily from 8:30am to 6:30pm, was early last year expanded after protracted negotiations, and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s to have the management of Entebbe Botanical Gardens transferred from the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, the mother Ministry under which UWEC falls.
During the handover, President Museveni through the Prime Minister, however, stated that that the function of botanical research will continue alongside that of tourism, Wildlife Rescue, Treatment of injured and sick Animals, Wildlife Quarantine Services and species recovery contribution.
