Wildlife Conservation Uganda Project #40133

Protecting Lions in Uganda

by David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Project Report | Jan 18, 2023
Protecting Lions - January Update

By Jo B | Supporter Care

Lion - Yaron Schmid

Our ground-based conservation partners in Uganda had a challenging and busy year in 2022, but with continued support from DSWF their conservation projects have continued to progress successfully.

Lion Monitoring

The identification, monitoring, research and collaring of lions is ongoing with four new individuals recently being identified as viable candidates for collaring. The project is now awaiting veterinary availability for collaring to be carried out. Rangers and scouts continue to monitor and record all lion sightings within the area as well as tracking existing collared lions through the use of EarthRanger technology which forms a live map of wildlife populations within the area.

Community Development

Our partners community outreach programmes have helped identify the 20 families living adjacent to the national park who would benefit most from livelihoods improvement programmes, which are aimed at improving coexistence between local villages and lions in the area. The main impact focus here is with young adults to provide them with vocational training. This would provide skills like masonry and mechanics which can provide an alternative livelihood to poaching and illegal wildlife activity.

Our partners ability to respond to human wildlife conflict incidents has improved in recent months with rangers from the new community conservation ranger posts responding to human wildlife conflict incidents in a timely and professional manner, reducing the risk of harm to both people and wildlife.

Anti-Poaching

A team of community scouts have received basic ranger training as well as various specialist training and mentorship facilitated by our partners, including the British Military, marine ranger training and other vocational courses from a local college. The scout teams assist with anti-poaching efforts including snare removal patrols and cover the poaching hot spots, providing an extra deterrent. The snare removal teams have been very successful and continue to remove tonnes of snares and traps from the national park.

Two mobile anti-poaching units have been sustained over the past year which patrol across vulnerable and recovering landscapes in which vital lion populations reside. Each anti-poaching team comprises six community scouts, two rangers to provide security, and one driver with a Land Cruiser providing logistical support.

The ‘Community Conservation Quick Reaction Force’, which acts a rapid response anti-poaching unit, have received vital equipment including smartphones and digital radios and have received training in their use. This has made a significant difference to the reporting, tracking and monitoring of wildlife in the area.

The ongoing anti-poaching work and snare removal patrols form part of a larger strategy to disrupt poaching to ensure less than 5% of animals are killed across the area. This will ensure the national parks wildlife populations will have a chance to recover. The cost to poachers, and risk of poaching, has now increased within the area which has led to a drastic reduction in the killing of wildlife.

Stay up to date with our work and how your generous support is making a difference, receive exciting wildlife conservation stories and hear about forthcoming campaigns, fundraising initiatives and events: Stay In Touch

Ranger with Snare - Lawrence Avery

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Sep 21, 2022
Protecting Lions - September Update

By Jo B | Supporter Care & Database Executive

Lioness - Lawrence Avery

In July 2022 two members of the DSWF team visited our ground-based conservation partners Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) at Murchison Falls National Park.They saw first-hand the amazing work the project has done to improve the communications network in the park. The installation of five new radio towers means communications now covers 80% of the park, compared to 5% previously. This is hugely significant in the fight to protect lions and other endangered species within the protected area, as rangers can respond to incidents much more rapidly, increasing the changes of intercepting and apprehending poachers.

In the past year our ground-based conservation partners have supported thirty community conservation rangers and twenty scouts across Uganda. Each one has been equipped with rucksacks, raincoats, two pairs of boots and a water bottle as well as transport including electric bikes. The rangers and scouts are absolutely integral to reducing poaching within Murchison Falls. Snaring remains a huge problem and without regular patrols to remove the snares, many more animals would die. On a recent patrol, which two members of the DSWF team joined, 102 snares were found and removed from the park within four hours.

Lions are also devastatingly falling victim to poisoning by international illegal wildlife trade buyers and suppliers for local witchdoctors, both of whom target lion body parts. Due to this our conservation partners are focusing efforts on engaging with the local communities to provide them with support, employment and development along with human-wildlife conflict mitigation and education to foster a positive relationship between the communities and lions, reducing the number of illegal activities within the national park harming lions and other wildlife.

Patrols have focused on the landscape that animals and particularly lions reside in, ensuring poaching activity is minimised. This strategy has led to a large amount of illegal activity being identified and arrests made. The collaring of lions has also helped monitor lion populations and understand their movements better. The collaring of lions remains an enormous challenge given the difficulty in locating lions in dense and inaccessible parts of the park. Despite the challenges of lions being caught and killed in snares or wheel traps and poached for body parts, the project is optimistic about the lion population within the protected area. A conservative estimate of the lion population is 150, but it is likely there are more in the remote and inaccessible areas. The home ranges of the lions in Murchison Falls are very small, suggesting that there are more lions than previously thought and that the area can support many more. Prey is highly abundant, particularly the Ugandan Kob antelope. If mortality can be kept to a minimum there is good reason to expect that populations of lions will continue to increase.

DSWF relies entirely on donations and support from generous individuals like you to continue to fight wildlife crime, protect species and engage individuals and communities to ensure a brighter future for wildlife. So, thank you for your support in helping to give Lion’s a chance of survival as you can see your continued support is vital to this project.

Find out more about our work with Lions.

Ranger with Snare - Lawrence Avery

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May 12, 2022
Protecting Lions - May Update

By Jo Briffitt | Supporter Care & Database Executive

A sedated Lion being collared, Credit UCF

Thank yo ufor supporting David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) Protecting Lions.

DSWF supports anti-poaching initiatives and funds research and monitoring surveys in Uganda to make sure lions are given the best chance of survival. Unfortunately, lions are currently being targeted and killed in the Murchison Falls Protected Area (MFPA) in Uganda and efforts must be intensified to monitor their landscapes and ensure they are free from poaching. Anti-poaching efforts by our ground-based conservation partners in MFPA are essential to keep wildlife safe and to ensure a reduction in human-wildlife conflict by supporting communities to positively co-exist with wildlife.

As such DSWF continues to support our conservation partners anti-poaching efforts. This year’s funding will help to sustain lion protection in critical areas by supporting two mobile anti-poaching units which will patrol vulnerable areas and recovering landscapes. It will also sustain snare removal in the protected area through the recruitment of scouts and continue to facilitate the collaring of lions to enable real time monitoring and longer-term conservation planning and protection. The funding will allow the collaring of lions in some of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the park which until now have been impossible to monitor.

DSWF funding will also assist in the establishment of operational, reporting and planning systems to drive the reduction of impact of human wildlife conflict in the MFPA. This will ensure every human wildlife conflict incident is visited by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and ensure that their Community Conservation Quick Reaction Forces are responsive and capable of managing conflict situations safely and effectively. This will result in improved protected area management, safer communities and reduced poaching, allowing for the recovery of lion populations in the protected area and throughout Uganda.

Our funding will also contribute to community development by providing training and apprenticeships to youths from the region. Providing direct support to vulnerable families provides an alternative income to poaching and will make communities more resilient.

DSWF relies entirely on donations and support from generous individuals like you to continue to fight wildlife crime, protect species and engage individuals and communities to ensure a brighter future for wildlife. So thank you for your support in helping to give Lion’s a chance of survival.

Find out more about our work with lions.

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) would love to keep you up-to-date with how your generous support is making a difference, share exciting wildlife conservation stories and tell you about forthcoming campaigns, fundraising initiatives and events. If you would like to hear more from us please let us know via our online form: Stay In Touch

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