Uganda Lions Extinction Threat

For the last ten years, Uganda has been known for gorilla trekking and chimpanzee tracking; actually most of the tourist that come to Uganda often come for gorilla trekking or Chimpanzee trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park, Mgahinga gorilla national park, Kibale forest national park, Murchison falls national and Queen Elizabeth national park respectively.

More efforts have been exerted towards the preservation of Mountain gorillas and Chimpanzees in Uganda which has seen the growth of mountain gorillas hit the 1000 population mark in the recent years. However the same efforts have not been put forth in regard to the Lions which are also equally endangered.

Considering the total population of Lions in Africa (About 20,000 Lions); it is way bigger than that of Mountain gorillas (Between 1,000 and 1,100) on the whole African continent however in Uganda though more attention is given to the mountain gorillas, Lions are more endangered.

According to lion alert survey in 2013, Uganda has a lion population of less than 600 lions in the wild. This implies that the lions are far more endangered than the mountain gorillas but have not received the same treat in quest to preserve the King of the Jungle.

Drops in the Lion Population

According to weekly observer 15^th March 2019; the Lion population has dropped by 33% in the last ten years. With Murchison falls national park losing more than 60% of the total lion population in the last ten years.

Lion Parks in Uganda

Uganda has a total of ten national parks specifically gazette for wildlife; out of these ten parks only five national park have Lions: Queen Elizabeth national park, Murchison Falls national park, Kidepo valley national park, Semiliki national park, and Lake Mburo national park.

Out of the five national parks, only Kidepo valley national park, Murchison Falls national park and Queen Elizabeth national have more than 100 lions each. However each park has a distinguishing factor that makes lion tracking in that park unique;

Queen Elizabeth National park is the only national park in Uganda that has tree climbing lions, Kidepo valley national park is the only park in Uganda where you can spot lions along other Ugandan big cats including cheetahs and leopards while Murchison falls national park grants you bigger space to enrich your game drive experience.

Semiliki national park and Lake Mburo national park share among themselves at a total lion population of about 15 lions

Causes for the population drop

There many causes to the lion population drop but the major drops can be attributed to the following three factors

• The drop in population is partly attributed to the weak legal framework; for instance there are well known restaurants that deal in uncertified game meat around the country but no serious measures have been taken to ensure that these restaurants are closed or certifying avenues for proper acquisition of game meat.
• Snares by poachers: In quest for the different types of game meat, lions often fall in traps that are usually meant for other animals.

This is not to imply that it is okay to poach other animals rather the poachers rarely target lions. However because they share grazing grounds with antelopes they become victims of the same antelope traps

• Lion trafficking: Lions along side with other animal species such as the chimpanzees are facing the same animal trafficking threats in Uganda. Some of these animals leave the country through Congo, Kenya and other neighboring countries.

If no serious measures are undertaken, lions are likely to meet the same fate like Uganda’s rhinoceros that got extinct in wild

Recommendations

• The government should gazette sectors in different parks specifically for lion breeding. Unlikely mountain gorillas that are likely to have 4 babies in a life time, lions are likely to have more than five cubs within one year in case the conditions are favorable.
• Systems should be put in place in place to trail and close every restaurant that illegally deals in game meat. There is official game meat such crocodile meat, Ostrich meat and some antelopes that are gazed commercially/ privately to feed the restaurants.