KANUNGU — Yet to be identified number of lions including lion cubs, have been found dead in Queen Elizabeth national park in Uganda after possibly being poisoned, a conservation official said on Saturday morning.
Without giving the full extent of the damage, Mr. Bashir Hangi, a communications officer with the Uganda Wildlife Authority confirmed the incident in the popular tourist destination.
Hagai said Uganda Wildlife Authority was launching an investigation after the pride was found dead at the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
He said: “Investigations will confirm the type of poison that was used. Investigations should lead to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the people behind this heinous act.”
Lions have been killed in a number of poisoning incidents in Uganda.
In 2018, eleven lions were found dead in Queen Elizabeth national park. In May 2010, five were killed in the park in another possible poisoning case. Between May 2006 and July 2007, 15 lions died in the area in attacks blamed on landless herdsmen defending their cattle.
The parks grasslands are home to more than 600 species of bird and about 100 types of mammal including buffalo, waterbuck, leopards, hyena and elephants.
Conservationists are worried the lion population in Africa is falling. A 2013 survey found the population had dropped by 30 per cent, and numbers in Uganda are now estimated at 400. The park is one of the last strongholds of the big cats in the country.
Wildlife experts also say the lions’ natural prey is declining, while the number of humans is rising and encroaching on lions’ traditional roaming areas, leading to greater conflict over land use.