Da Dona
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- Dec 16, 2025
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A renowned Danish wildlife journalist has been arrested by the Uganda Police Force over alleged wildlife-related offences, official sources confirmed on Tuesday.
Klaus Thymann, an acclaimed investigative journalist and photographer, was arrested on Monday at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) headquarters in Kampala. The arrest occurred while Thymann was attempting to secure an official permit for his work.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Ms. Rachael Kawala, confirmed that Thymann who is also an explorer and scientist, is currently detained at Kira Road Police Station. She noted that he is pending an imminent transfer to Kasese District in western Uganda, where the alleged offences were committed. While Kawala deferred specific case details to the UWA, the authority's spokesman, Mr. Bashir Hangi, verified the apprehension.
"Yes, we arrested him," Hangi stated, adding that full details would be released following internal briefings.
Thymann is globally recognized for documenting ecological crises. An ambassador for the prestigious camera brand Hasselblad, his work has been featured by NASA, the New York Times, BBC, CNN, and National Geographic. A core focus of his career has been the Rwenzori Mountains—spanning the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo—where he has tracked the rapid melting of equatorial glaciers due to climate change and human settlement.
The arrest appears heavily tied to Thymann's environmental activism. During a 2012 expedition, Thymann photographed Rwenzori’s shrinking peaks alongside UWA rangers. When his updated findings on the receding glaciers were published internationally last year, they drew fierce backlash from the Ugandan government, which publicly denied the climate crisis, claiming the melting was merely a "normal seasonal pattern."
Local press freedom advocates view Thymann’s detention as part of a broader, systemic assault on journalism in Uganda. The media landscape has shrunk dramatically under heavy-handed state security actions. Just days prior, masked men in military uniforms raided and besieged the Nation Media Group (NMG) headquarters, forcing prominent independent outlets like NTV Uganda and The Daily Monitor off the air.
Source: Daily Monitor UG
