Twenty years after being declared extinct, conservationists at the Sena Oura National Park reported a sighting of a wild lion. The animal was described to be “a beautiful lioness, in her prime and clearly in great health,” by New-York based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Lions are declared technically extinct in Sena Oura, located in the larger Bouba N’djida-Sena Oura Landscape along the Cameroon/Chad border. This is because the area saw a long period of “ruthless, organized poaching,” WCS explained. Because of this, lion populations all over West and Central Africa declined by approximately 66 percent.
Now, the sighting of the thriving and healthy lioness in Chad is definitely a cause for celebration. This means that lion populations are slowly, but surely recovering. “[It] is hugely encouraging,” WCS Big Cat Programme executive director Luke Hunter told BBC News. “Prime females are the foundation of any lion population, and they are not big wanderers: they inhabit areas that have prey and are safe to raise their cubs in.”
Image credit: PN Sena Oura, Chad MEPDD/WCS