Leopard attacked and ate a toddler in Ugandan wildlife park

Elisha Nabugyere is thought to have followed a maid outside before he was snatched by a leopard.

On May 4, 2018, the three-year-old boy was mauled and eaten by a leopard in Southwestern Uganda. The tragic incident occurred at 9 pm in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, as reported by Daily Monitor.

The UWA spokesperson, Bashir Hangi, described the incident as “very unfortunate but portrays how our lives as conservationists are always at risk."

Elisha was with a maid in the staff quarters in the Queen Elizabeth National Park on Friday night. His mother, Doreen Ayera, a Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) staff, was working during that time.

Hangi told the Telegraph that the maid was not aware Elisha followed her to the kitchen

Unfortunately, a leopard that was hiding nearby mauled the young boy.

The maid tried to intervene when she heard Elisha's screams, but it was too late as the leopard took him to the bush.

The maid immediately alerted the park rangers, who seek for the leopard through the night.

Hangi said: “The rangers immediately swung into action, searched for the baby but they found only a skull in the morning under a tree."

The park rangers were pursuing the leopard and planning to remove it from the wild if captured.

“Once it has eaten human flesh, the temptations are high to eat another human being. It becomes dangerous," Hangi told the Telegraph.

Elisha's father, Francis Manana Nabugyere, told The Kampala Post that his child's skull “and some other bones” were found later.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) laid Elisha's remains to rest in a coffin.

“I have not talked to them about the incident but I would expect something reasonable to compensate me, although my son’s life is gone,” Nabugyere said.

He added that Uganda Wildlife Authority should do more to protect the staff and their children from possible dangers in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.