Uganda: When the Hunting Becomes Real


The Weekly Observer (Kampala)

OPINION
28 February 2008
Posted to the web 28 February 2008

Dismas Nkunda
Kampala

It is an abomination in some of our local cultures for someone to hunt. Hunting or fruit gathering is perceived by many as a primitive pre-occupation for those who are lazy and cannot take time to cultivate or tend to animals. Those who have managed to peck the ladder of our society infer that cattle-keeping is first in the pecking order of our societal hierarchy. This is closely followed by the cultivators, with hunters and fruit gatherers coming last.

In my village, one can transcend from one core activity to the next simply by knowing what one's occupation is. If you used to have a lot of animals (cattle and some goats), you were considered a "rich person". So you were not expected to toil in the garden. That work was done by porters. But when you lost that status, you began cultivating, then village folks would know that you had moved one step down the ladder.


In olden times, hunting was done by those who moved from village to village looking for where the wild animals live. Cattle keepers were seen as the brains of the society. They were deemed clever. They were trusted. They smelt good, and sometimes bad, for they fed mainly on milk and ghee.

Most importantly, they had no reason to hunt since they had so many bulls in their kraal that meat was not an important item on their menu. It was never their core competence to do menial jobs; these were left for the lowly.

But like in many societies, people change or change changes them. When a wealthy owner of cattle decides to hunt, then you must be wary.

The most common reason, according to village stories, is greed. If you have hundreds of cattle, you drink milk and have all the meat you want, why hunt a rabbit or edible rat?

For some it was an insult for one cattle owner to mix milk with rabbit meat. The mothers and wives of the rich man would surely look down on you if you were seen or even imagined hunting.

But I am told rabbit meat is very tender and good. Herdsmen and boys sometimes do snippy things while tending their cattle. They will hunt for guinea fowls, rabbits and some of the more abhorred rodents for fear of killing a bull which could bring the ire of the bull owner. They will never tell the cattle owners that they hunted at all.

But sometimes the real cattle keepers hunt only to keep their animals safe. Because their cattle are easy prey to wild animals, such as lions, hyenas, leopards, the cattle keeper will hunt them down to safeguard his cattle.

Stories of heroes who have single-handedly killed lions abound. Some propagate theories of killing lions with bare hands. Such are the stories that make some of these cattle keepers almost infallible.

But some of these heroes have at times fallen on hard times. When the weather becomes unfriendly, when the grass to feed the cattle dries up, when the wells dry up, when the wild animals compete in size and number with the cattle, then the indefatigable in us is bound to happen.

This is when the cattle keeper turns to cultivating, albeit with little success. And when the thought of the meat long lost makes their mouth droop with want, that is when they realise that hunting can give them bigger and better meat. And the sight of the seasoned hunters carrying carcasses they killed on a hunting spree makes them abandon their cultural relish and they too decide to change profession.

Yes, the greed for meat and wild game meat becomes the norm. And when one big game falls after many trials, then the habit sticks. That is hunting the big game, a profession that transforms hitherto non-hunters into game eaters.


Those schooled in the art of hunting infer that the one who spears the animal first takes the biggest share. The dog owners that help in chasing the animal from its hiding place also get a fair share. Those who cluttered with lots of noise to scare the animal end up with only offals (ebyenda).

And for those who never joined the hunting expedition, game meat remains a long distant cry. The flies and other insects that are naturally attracted to a dead and decomposing game keep nibbling on stinking hides as they dry in the compound; hoping for another fresh hide after another big game has fallen. My high regard for seasoned hunters!

The author is a human rights expert and specialist on refugee issues