Mwezi “Badru” Mugerwa stopped by DePauw University on Thursday, Sept. 25, to present his Indianapolis Prize Emerging Conservationist Award-winning work on the African Golden Cat.
Mugerwa is a Ugandan conservationist whose work began when he captured a photo of an unknown animal in the depths of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Even his field assistants were unaware of the animal, so Mugerwa’s desire to identify it grew stronger. Through conversation with members of surrounding communities, he learned that the animal was the African Golden Cat, named “embaka” in Rukiga, their native language. Mugerwa then set out to identify the cat’s habits and major threats and found that the biggest problem was poaching.
In his efforts to conserve the African Golden Cat, he met with community members to learn why the animal was frequently caught by poachers by accident and what he could do to offset the communities’ needs for hunting.
With the information he received, Mugerwa founded Embaka, a community-focused initiative for improving the livelihood of local families while also inspiring conservation efforts for the cat. Embaka employs many initiatives to help local families and lower their need for hunting, such as a Pig Seed Bank that provides families with a pregnant sow if they promise to donate a piglet to a family that vows to stop hunting. This bank gives families direct access to meat without the need to endanger the cat by hunting. Another initiative launched in 2021 is the Smiles for Conservation effort, in which local families are given free access to dental care in exchange for a pledge to stop hunting. He gives credit to local communities for these ideas and states that his job was simply to implement them.
Embaka has expanded all across Africa and spearheaded the African Golden Cat Conservation Alliance (AGCCA), which coordinates multi-country efforts to protect the species. Mugerwa says the endeavor is successful because “values transcend language.”
The Indianapolis Prize Emerging Conservationist Award is “a biennial award recognizing conservationists under 40 years of age with the talent and drive to make a significant impact on saving an animal species or group of species,” (Indianapolis Zoo) sponsored by the Indianapolis Zoological Society, Inc. The winner receives $50,000 to support their work and is recognized at the Indianapolis Prize Gala, which took place this year on Sept. 27.
Mugerwa’s work has turned an unknown and widely undocumented animal into a passion project that has changed the lives of many and is just beginning.
The full post-presentation interview with Mugerwa aired Sept. 30 on “State of the Castle” via WGRE Radio and can be found on WGRE’s website.
