Beginning today, five female and two male lions will be moved to Rwanda's Akagera National Park by truck and plane, said conservationist group African Parks, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
The Rwandan lion population was wiped out 15 years ago after cattle herders poisoned the animals when the parks were left unmanaged following 1994's genocide, reported the Christian Science Monitor. Now conservationists are hoping to repopulate the area by using "surplus lions" from other areas.
The five lions were donated from two parks in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, according to Al-Jazeera. The move will take about 26 hours and, according to African Parks, the lions will be well taken care of throughout the entire duration: "They will be continually monitored by a veterinary team with experience in translocations. They will be kept tranquillized to reduce any stress and will have access to fresh water throughout their journey."
Upon arrival at the park, the lions will be kept in quarantine—in a specially made 1,000-square-meter space with an electrified fence—for two weeks before being released into the wild.
They will also be equipped with satellite collars to reduce the risk of them straying into inhabited areas. "The collars have a two year life by which time the park team will have evaluated the pride dynamics and can determine whether it is prudent to re-collar any of the animals," said African Parks.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the lion as vulnerable in an update this month of its red list of species facing survival threats. It noted lion conservation successes in southern Africa, but said lions in west Africa were critically endangered, and rapid population declines were also being recorded in east Africa.
African Parks cited human encroachment on lion habitats and a decline in their prey as two of the leading factors for their drop in population. The organization also identified the trade in Africa and Asia for lion bones and other body parts for traditional medicines as a growing threat.
