African Lion – Elizabeth National park – tree climbing lions – African lion -ishasha.
Elizabeth National park – tree climbing lions – African lion -ishasha- There are two formally recognized lion subspecies. The African lion (Panthera leo leo) is found in Africa, south of the Sahara desert. The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) exists in one small population around Gir Forest National Park in western India.
A pride of lions is usually made up of related females and their cubs, plus a male or small group of males who defend their pride. The lionesses rear their cubs together and cubs can suckle from any female with milk.
African lion numbers are thought to have declined by over 40% in the just three generations and the main threats are retaliatory or pre-emptive killing of lions to protect people and livestock; and decreasing natural prey populations and habitat (for example, due to expanding human settlements, agriculture and poaching of antelope for wild meat consumption).
Queen Elizabeth National Park –
Lion monitoring: In 2005, WCS launched a lion project in the Queen Elizabeth National park – tree climbing lions – African lion – Ishasha sector of QENP to monitor lion population dynamics. Hopping that information collected would aid our conservation efforts and intended to monitor the small population of tree-climbing lions found in this sector.
This population has been ascertained and varies between 20-35 individuals only. WCS discovered that lions in the Ishasha sector move easily between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo when dispersing and that males have come from the DRC to Uganda to take over prides in Ishasha.
Similarly, the research shows that lions migrate from the central sector of QENP to Ishasha through the Maramagambo Forest. This migration is critical to the maintenance of a viable population of lions in Ishasha and if Uganda’s famous tree-climbing lions are to survive we need to maintain this connectivity.
Reducing illegal traps: Our continued monitoring of the population has helped to save lions on many occasions. By being able to respond to news of lions’ movements towards local communities, we have worked with UWA to move them back to the park before they are killed. Between March and August 2013, WCS rescued three lions that had become entangled in wire snares that poachers set to trap other wildlife.
Mitigating the human-carnivore conflict: Pastoralists bring their livestock into the park for both grazing and water, particularly in the dry season. WCS is spearheading activities aimed at improving and maintaining grazing grounds for pastoralists outside the park by helping them remove invasive Lantana plants. We have so far cleared over 2 km2 of land covered by Lantana. We are looking for funding to provide cattle watering points outside the park and also are in the process of testing solar lighting in the villages near cattle kraals so that both people and the livestock have better security at night and visibility should lions attack.
Eco-tourism: Over the coming years we will be developing lion experiential tourism with UWA as a mechanism to both increase revenue for UWA while at the same time using some of the revenue generated to reduce the conflicts between people and the parks.
Main threats to lions in Uganda
Globally, large carnivores are facing population declines as the ever growing human population reduces habitable landscapes in which they can live. A 2009 Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) national census of lions showed a decline from an estimated 600 a decade ago to 400 today. Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) had the biggest decline from about 320 to 130 within a decade. This significant decline can largely be attributed to accidental snaring in traps set for antelopes and conflict with communities neighboring the park.
Climate change is another increasing threat – extreme weather may cause more droughts or delay the rains, affecting lions’ prey.
They’re also killed for the illegal wildlife trade. In recent years, the demand for lion bone as a substitute for tiger bone in traditional Asian/African medicine has risen.
The lion population in the Ishasha sector of QENP has declined over the years: the number of Ishasha lions per square kilometre declined from 6 lions per 100 km2to 4 lions per 100km2 in the last 10 years. The two main threats to lions in QENP are snaring and conflict with pastoralists following predation of livestock or injury to humans. The majority of livestock keepers do not attend to their animals especially at night, which leaves them susceptible to lion predation. This human-lion conflict often triggers the retaliatory poisoning of the cattle carcasses killed by the lions and death of any animal that then feeds on it. This may often be scavengers such as hyaenas and vultures as much as the original culprit. Additionally, many lions have been speared to death by communities neighbouring Ishasha and other parts of QENP.
How to see these lions, we conduct a 3 day Queen Elizabeth National park tour in the areas of katwe, kyambura and Ishasha to give you a good view of these lions.
3 Days Queen Elizabeth National park and tree climbing lion tracking . Elizabeth National park – tree climbing lions – African lion -ishasha
Itinerary
Day 1: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Leave for Queen Elizabeth National Park – the medley of wonders located in south western Uganda for a wildlife safari in Uganda. This Uganda wildlife safari to Queen Elizabeth will give you opportunities to see remarkable landscapes and scenery in Uganda’s countryside. You will pass agricultural fields of different people working or seated by the stalls of crafts or fresh fruits and vegetable markets. Most homes are by the roadside for easy access to transport but also because they have access to amenities like power and water.
You will have a stopover at the Equator monument experiencing life in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Lunch will be at Igongo cultural museum – the home of Ankore culture.
Alternatively you can take a flight to Mweya airstrip shortening your transit time. This will then afford you time in the afternoon to either do a boat safari or a community tour.
Day 2: Game drive and boat safari on Kazinga channel
hippos-queen-elizabeth-national-park-uganda Enjoy this Uganda wildlife safari in Queen Elizabeth national park which offers a beautiful African safari experience. The park is known to have the highest biodiversity of any protected area in East Africa. The day will start very early with your tour guide for an early morning game drive exploring the park in the Kasenyi plains searching for predators and grazers on a game drive.
Return to the lodge for lunch or have a picnic lunch after which you will take a boat safari on Kazinga Channel which connects Lake Edward and Lake George. This offers an excellent opportunity for photography moments of Hippos, Buffaloes, Elephants and magnificent bird species by the water.
Day 3: Travel back to Kampala/ Entebbe
Your wildlife safari has come to an end but the memories will live with you forever. Leave for Kampala, have lunch en route and proceed to your hotel or Airport.
Drive time – 6 hours OR Scheduled Flight –1 hour 45 minutes
3 Days Queen Elizabeth Wildlife Safari