Uganda’s lion population has declined by 45% in nearly 20 years, from 493 to 275, largely due to increasing human-wildlife conflicts, the tourism and wildlife minister said on Tuesday.
Retaliation, a decisive factor in the decline of lions
Minister Tom Butime, on the other hand, was pleased that the number of other species is increasing, for example the number of gorillas has increased from 302 in the early 2000s to 459 in 2022.
“Lions have declined sharply due to retaliatory killings as a result of human-wildlife conflicts. Lion numbers have declined from a peak of 493 in 2014 to 275 lions in 2023“, he said while presenting a report on tourism in this East African country known for being home to one of the greatest biodiversity in the world.
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The majority of lions in the country (224) are located in Murchison Falls Park. Only 39 remain in Queen Elizabeth Park, where the lions are known for their unusual ability to climb trees.
From Lions in Kenya to Earth Seen From the Sky: An Extraordinary Retrospective of Yann…
Numerous cases of poisoning have been reported in this park in recent years (9 in 2022, 6 in 2021, 11 in 2018, etc.). Investigations rarely identified perpetrators and few prosecutions were successful. These poisoning practices are sometimes carried out by ranchers in response to attacks on their livestock, but some also involve poaching.
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In 2021, the arrest of four poachers led to the discovery of four lions’ severed heads and limbs, as well as poison bottles, spears, a machete and a hunting net.
The Endangerment of Chimpanzees and the Resurrection of Elephants
In a report last year, the government had already warned of threats to lions and chimpanzees in the country, which, on the other hand, has seen its elephant population nearly quadruple (to 7,975) over the past four decades. During the same period, the number of giraffes increased sixfold (to 2,072) and the number of buffalo almost doubled (to more than 44,000).
National parks are one of the pillars of tourism in Uganda. The tourism industry contributed 7.6% to GDP in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.