Six lions found dead in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth park

Six lions were last evening found dead at Ishasha sector, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kanungu district in what’s believed to be suspected poisoning, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said.

According to UWA, the lion carcasses were found with most of their parts missing. Eight dead vultures were also found at the scene, which points to possible poisoning.

Mr Bashir Hangi, the UWA communications manager said Saturday that a team of investigators was sent to the ground to handle the matter in collaboration with police in Kanungu District.

“Given that some body parts of the lions are missing, we cannot rule out illegal wildlife trafficking,” he said.

Mr Hangi said the deaths has dire negative impact on the tourism sector and revenue generation in the country.

“UWA condemns the illegal killing of wildlife because it does not only impact negatively on our tourism as a country, but also revenue generation which supports conservation and community work in our protected areas,” Mr Hangi said in a statement

According to UWA, tourism has been a top foreign exchange earner to the country contributing almost 10 percent of the GDP and 23 percent of the total foreign exports.

He assured the public that UWA shall continue to strengthen the protection of lions and other wildlife in Uganda and will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion.

“Our national parks remain safe and attractive to visitors and we still have lions in Queen Elizabeth and other parks,” he said.