A lion has been spotted in Chad’s Sena Oura National Park for the first time in almost two decades.
A team of conservationists from the Chadian government and the New York City-based nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society, on Thursday, released an image showing what they described as “a beautiful lioness, in her prime and clearly in great health.”
The photo was reportedly taken on February 22 by a camera trap in Chad’s Sena Oura National Park, where lions haven’t been seen since 2004.
They are technically considered extinct in Chad’s Sena Oura National Park, a protected area of about 182,000 acres that’s adjacent to Cameroon’s much larger Bouba N’djida National Park, where the big cats “are now increasing and appear to be recolonizing parts of their former range including Sena Oura”.
Lions have been classified as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. Also, in West and Central Africa, they are considered to be “critically endangered,” with populations declining by about 66% since the early 1990s.
According to WCS, Lions in West and Central Africa are genetically distinct from the more robust Lion populations in East and Southern Africa.
WCS said in a press release, “The region saw a period of ruthless, organized poaching more than a decade ago, but has since benefitted from a very strong commitment to conservation by the governments of both Cameroon and Chad.
“This has produced better protection of the national parks and wildlife populations are now starting to recover.”
