THE LIONS OF DAMBWA

TOURISM WITH NDUBI

HISTORICALLY, lions were widespread throughout Africa. However, their range has been severely reduced in recent years. This week looks at the proposals of introducing lions in Zambia’s smallest National Park, the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park as NDUBI MVULA writes…

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Recently, there was a sopping meeting at Zambezi Sun Hotel where certain concerns and plans were tabled for the possibility of venturing into the introduction of lions in Livingstone were made and Tourist Destination got hold of the few thoughts on the same.

The African Lion & Environmental Research Trust (ALERT), supported by African Encounter, under the trading name of Lion Encounter (Zambia) Limited, has introduced a lion rehabilitation and release into the wild program in Zambia.

The program has been operating in Gweru, in Zimbabwe, since 1999 and in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe, since 2005 and are now planning to extend the operations to Livingstone, Zambia.

It is noted that ALERT had secured a Forest Concession Agreement (FCA) on a section of the Dambwa Forest from the Zambian Government.

Lion Encounter (Zambia) Limited had secured a Tourism Concession Agreement (TCA) with then Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA).

The operation had to be run from a site within the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park for stage one and within the Dambwa Forest for stages two and three.

Envsol Consult was engaged as consultants to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). An important part of this assessment is stakeholder consultations.  A scoping meeting was held prior to commencing the environmental studies in line with the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation of 1997.

However, it was noted that over 200,000 lions roamed the continent as recently as 1975 but in 2002 two surveys provided evidence of a dramatic decline estimating that only 23 to 39,000 remain with the lowest estimate being just 16,500.

This represents an extremely worrying 80 to 90% population drop in less than 30 years, and it was widely accepted that the population had continued to decline.

The African lion has been placed on the list of “vulnerable” species, but the alarming speed of the crash in lion populations has led many to call for the species to be upgraded to “endangered”.

The reintroduction of lions into their natural habitat is very difficult, and previous attempts have had limited success.  The reasons advanced for this exercise are among others, suggesting that firstly the lions had no experience of their natural environment and that their reliance on humans wasn’t sufficiently removed.

The other suggestions were that they were released as individuals with very little social organisation, and finally they had no experience of predatory and competitive species.

According to the Zimbabwean experience with this exercise, it was noted that the program was developed in 1999 at Antelope Park and the authorities are seeking to solve those previous problems by using a four-stage rehabilitation program.

In stage one, lions born in the breeding centres are removed from their mothers at three weeks old. This allows them to train them only to the point that they’re safe for rangers to walk with them in the African Bush.  When the cubs are six weeks old they’re taken out into their natural environment on walks. They’re accompanied by experienced handlers and volunteer workers who act as dominant members of the lions’ pride. As their experience grows over the following months they’re introduced to the game species in the park, and by 18 months, they’re quite capable of stalking and taking down some of the smaller prey in the park.  By 2 years old, they’re seasoned hunters, and they are given every opportunity to hone their hunting skills.

In stage two, the lions have the opportunity to develop a natural pride social system in a minimum 500-acre enclosure. They have plenty of game to hunt, and are monitored closely. Most importantly, all human contact is removed. The lions will remain in stage 2 until they have a fully self-sustaining and socially stable pride.

In stage three the lions are radio collared and translocated as a pride into a managed ecosystem of around 10,000 acres or more,

• There would be no other lions, no resident human beings

• They’ll have a broad range of prey species to hunt

• But they’ll also have competitive species such as hyenas

The lions in Stage 3 will give birth to cubs that will be raised by the pride in the managed ecosystem, very close to their natural environment. These cubs will develop skills that will enable their re-introduction into appropriate National Parks and reserves across the African continent.

In stage four the lions born in stage three can be released into the wild where their numbers have been most diminished. They are able to provide complete, self-sustaining prides; or female only groups that can be integrated with existing wild prides. Male only coalitions could also be provided to add a natural gene flow to an existing population.

All four stages of the rehabilitation and release into the wild program have the potential to generate much needed income for the lion project as well as funding research, conservation and community programs. Hence, the lions themselves are also a fundraising ambassador for Africa’s wildlife and its people.

The Conservation Centre for Wild Africa (CCWA) conducts research and conservation activities, not only for lions, but for a diversity of Africa’s wildlife that will provide a comprehensive body of work to assist in the preparation of sound management plans in order to conserve a Wild Africa for future generations.

The ALERT Communities Trust (ACT) is the way of giving back to the communities bordering conservation areas so that they receive benefits for supporting those conservation programs.

A primary element of this is community education and awareness programmes to further understand the importance and relevance of sound conservation practice.

Local communities are involved in eco-tourism ventures related to the programs, and money generated goes back into community development schemes agreed as priorities with the local community, such as building schools or providing medical supplies.

This, however, if adopted and implemented in Livingstone, the Dambwa Forest would definitely lead to more revenue for the benefit of both the immediate and distant communities as well as the entire nation.

Don’t you think it is an exercise worth going into, say shopping under one roof instead of taking tourists to Luangwa and Chobe in the neighbouring Botswana just to go and see the Lions?