A 3 Months series of activities have been organized to celebrate Uganda Wildlife Education Center's 70 years of existence. This will be crowned with a dinner gala in December at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
Popularly known as “Entebbe Zoo", it was opened in 1952, by the Colonial Government in Uganda, as a reception center for injured wild animals and those confiscated from illegal trade.
In May 1994, the UWEC Trust was founded to take over the zoo primarily for Conservation Education purposes however, in 2017 government enacted a bill that was accented to by the president making it a statutory body, UWEC.
Speaking at the launch of the activities which include an exhibition, community outreach, Conservation marathon, Children conservation camps, and an open zoo day among others, the state minister for Tourism Martin Mugarra Bahinduka said that the zoo is now a fully-fledged conservation center but called for more sensitization for the world to appreciate the facility more.
"This is a great milestone for us as a country, we need to preach the gospel of conservation by diversity and I encourage us to teach the children about this at a tender age," he added.
UWEC Executive Director Dr. James Musinguzi said that the facility has transformed over the years adding that the celebrations are crucial as this will help the public to appreciate and recognize where we have come from and where they are going.
"We want to give back to Ugandans who have supported us over the years, we shall vaccinate all the dogs in the in Entebbe at no cost," added Musinguzi.
