THE European Union is to fund a rescue exercise to translocate some 15 Ugandan elephants to a national park after local officials ordered that they be shot after they killed a person, tourism ministry officials said on Tuesday. Tourism, trade and industry ministry permanent secretary Stephen Kagoda said that the translocation of the jumbos from Luwero district north of Kampala to a national park is scheduled to start anytime this week after Uganda Wildlife Authority secured EU funds for the programme. Five park rangers armed with rifles have been dispatched to the area to guard the villagers’ life and property from any further damage by the rogue animals, and also to ensure that they are not attacked by angry villagers who lost their kin last week.