Uganda's wildlife set for the screen

The weekly show will premiere on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation TV in the first week of February 2012, according to Abbey Rafsanjan, executive producer of the show.

Rafsanjan, a lifestyle writer at the Daily Monitor has partnered with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, USAID-STAR (Sustainable Tourism in the Albertine Rift) and Great Lakes Safari, a tour/travel agency, to produce the tourism series.

"This show will promote wildlife and tourism by unveiling the confidential lives of animals to the people and showing how animals and humans can live in harmony," Rafsanjan said.

The innovation is also bound to give some relief to the Uganda Tourist Board (UTB) which operates with a very lean budget to market the country at home and abroad.

Uganda Wild At Heart explores the relationship of animals and man in order to help viewers to understand the various domestic wildlife phenomena and interrelated nature. To add value to the show, producers will seek expert views of naturalists and animal experts about particular wildlife.

"An entertainment twist will be blended with zoology and biology in each episode, with special focus on the different genre of animals in an exciting manner," said Rafsanjan.

Uganda, a leading destination

Lonely Planet, the global travel guide book and digital media publisher, rated Uganda as the best place to visit in 2012. Uganda was closely followed by; Myanmar (Burma), Ukraine, Jordan, Denmark, Bhutan, Cuba, New Caledonia, Taiwan, and Switzerland at number 10.

In a recent interview with The Independent magazine, Andrew Seguya, executive director, Uganda Wildlife Authority, predicted that Uganda's rating as a leading destination is expected to draw more tourists. "We currently receive approximately 880 000 foreign visitors a year and I'm sure this number will double in 2012," Seguya said.

According to UTB, the number of tourists into the country has steadily increased from 468 000 in 2005 to a record high of 844 000 in 2008. However, the number declined by 5% to 817 000 in 2009, due to the global recession.

However, Uganda receives slightly over a million international visitors every year. With the screening of the new show and entry of foreign airlines such as: Qatar Airways, Gulf Air and Turkish Airlines, the government is optimistic that the numbers are set to significantly rise.