IN little more than a year an entire pride of lions has been wiped out by being shot or poisoned.
The recent deaths of Morada, Tawny and Maya, the last remaining members of the Hoaruseb pride in the Purros Conservancy at Skeleton Coast, spelled the end of a special era, in which a group of unique, desert-adapted lions had become resident in one of the world’s harshest and remote landscapes – the Hoaruseb River Canyon.The Hoaruseb pride gained international recognition in recent years among conservationists and the tourist trade quickly realised the benefits of getting up close and personal with the desert lions. In addition, the Purros conservancy members staked their claim to success by proving that a community could find ways to navigate the difficult situation of raising livestock amongst deadly predators. For the community, the death of ‘the resident lions is a huge loss’. John Kasaona, co-director of the Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) who spent the past week in Purros, said the mood in Purros is one of shock and people are ‘demoralised’. Dr Flip Stander, the lion researcher who developed a close bond with the Hoaruseb pride during his dedicated research on desert lions over the past years, and played a key role in the development of lion tourism and conservation, said on his website that the ‘poisoning of the three Hoaruseb lionesses is a serious setback for lion conservation, community-based conservation and tourism in the region. The efforts over the past five years by the Purros Conservancy, the tourism industry and conservation organisations to conserve the Hoaruseb lions and develop sustainable tourism activities, were enormous. But, in the end, the efforts were not enough.’ Kasaona said the loss of the lions is also an economic blow as most in Purros depend on tourism. According to talk in the area, it is suspected that the lions were poisoned by outsiders who have no experience with predators. Kasaona said that an influx of people on the borders and into the conservancy have raised concerns lately. And it is suspected that the lions moved into an area ‘where people have never had lion experience’. He confirmed that local plans to get the community involved in a lion safari project has been jeopardised by the killings. ‘Things were almost ready to roll’, he said. According to Kasaona, the Purros community regarded the lions as a ‘trump card’ and many felt proud of the fact that they had ‘desert lions roaming around – it’s an experience that Purros could sell to the outside world’. The Purros community had welcomed the idea that the Hoaruseb lions were a valuable resource and that potential conflict could be managed. Colgar Sikopo, from the directorate of wildlife Management at the Ministry of Environment, the poisoning of the lions is a serious case. He said the matter was reported to the police and the Ministry is determined to track down the culprits. He added that the death of the Hoaruseb pride is ‘a sad situation for conservation and tourism. Obviously tourism will be affected, there is no doubt about that’.The facts• It is estimated that there are only 20 000 lions left worldwide• The African lion (panthera leo) is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and feature on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species (CITES) list.• Major threats to the African lion are disease and habitat encroachment. Lions living close to human populations are most often killed by poisoning or shot.• Every year, 600 male lions are shot legally in safari hunts in Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania• According to www.desertlion.info, eleven lions were killed by people in the Kunene Region in the past year. Two lions were never located for verification. Reactions from around the world … •’This incident really does illustrate the endless pressures on Africa’s lion population’•’Dr Flip Stander has for his love and dedication to conservation of predators and the environment given more than 30 years of his life. This is not only the loss of three lions to Namibia, it is a loss of an extremely slow developing generation of desert adapted lions that could have populated the incredible Skeleton Coast National Park – a loss to Africa and its conservationists.’•’A terrible, terrible way for these animals to have died. The thought that anyone could plan and carry out such an atrocity beggars belief’.•’Strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans and animals … it produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction’.•’One would hope that the Namibian authorities would start to really support Dr Flip Stander and to take protection of the lions more serious’.•’The fact is that over the last 10 years or more the desert lion population has increased significantly … so that means the problems of human wildlife conflict are going to grow’.•’Even if they (community) are compensated for their losses (livestock) they may still feel resentment towards the lions. If the community as a whole gains from the presence of lions there can still be individuals who lose out’. (comments sourced from various online media forums including twitter and facebook)
