Drop in number of lions alarms conservationists
A lion at Queen Elizabeth National Park. A survey by UWA shows that the lion population in the country has declined greatly. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Speaking during celebrations to mark World Lion’s Day last Thursday, the conservationists urged African governments to put an end to practices such as captive breeding, petting, trade in lion parts and poaching.
Animal conservationists have expressed concern over the declining lion population in Uganda, warning that if nothing is done to reverse the trend, the big cats could be headed for extinction.
Speaking during celebrations to mark World Lion’s Day last Thursday, the conservationists urged African governments to put an end to practices such as captive breeding, petting, trade in lion parts and poaching.
“Four to five years ago, 5 percent of our lions were killed. So if we have so many lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park, they should be around 70 or 80. If you go to Murchison Falls, the numbers have also gone down; that’s where we have the biggest number actually, but overall in the country, they are less than 400 lions,” Ms Edith Kabesiime, the wildlife campaign manager at World Animal Protection, said during the celebrations in Kampala.
“So you can imagine, the entire Uganda with all these national parks, excluding Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga, which are forest parks and may be, Mount Elgon, and Rwenzori; all these savannahs and game parks are empty. Then, lions used to roam in Kampala, in our villages, but even now in national parks, they are almost done,” she added.
The African lions (Panthera leo), are the largest of all big cats in Africa and majorly live in large Savannah parks.
Further, Ms Kabesiime said some African countries want to adopt captive lion farming as South Africa currently does, something, she said, is a threat to the big cats’ existence.
She revealed that in South Africa, there are about 12,000 lions kept in captivity.
“This abuse of lions needs to be halted before it takes root,” she said.
She emphasised the need to protect lions from dangerous human activities such as poaching.
When contacted, Mr Bashir Hangi, the Uganda Wildlife Authority spokesperson, said the total estimate of the lion population in Uganda is 416, acknowledging a decline in their numbers.
A survey by Lion Project and Uganda Wildlife Authority estimated that Uganda had 600 lions in 2000. Of these, Queen Elizabeth National Park had 206, Murchison Falls National Park had 324, Kidepo National Park 58, Toro Semuliki 10 and Lake Mburo National Park two.
Nine years later, the Uganda Wildlife Authority in its 2009 survey indicated that the population of lions had declined, with Murchison Falls National Park experiencing the biggest decline from 324 to 132, Queen Elizabeth National Park had 144, Kidepo National Park 132, and Semuliki National Park 5.
The survey indicates human threats such as poisoning, increasing human population and poaching as major hindrances to the conservation of the lions.
“I agree that there is a decline in the population of our lions because of factors such as the high mortality rate in the newly born cubs which are vulnerable to disease and threat from other predators,” Mr Hangi said.
