As Uganda joins the rest of the world to celebrate the Lions day, Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) remains a home of rescued carnivores especially the lions. The centre has a pride of ten lions with three males and seven females.
One of the females, Sophia was rescued from Murchison falls national park after being abandoned by the mother, while the rest of other females and males are captive-born.
The oldest lioness Bisa, was donated by Paradise Wildlife Park in the UK at 3years. Later Mutagamba with the late Letaba produced cubs named Africa, Paradise, and Zuri in 2017 and two more cubs in 2020 which are Nandi and Tambo.
Africa and Sophia later produced a baby named Landlord. At UWEC, the lions are provided with a semi-natural enclosure with various environmental enrichment to stimulate their natural behavior.
The pride at UWEC feeds on 5kg-8kgs each of raw meat daily which is quite expensive but with support from the sponsors, their welfare is assured.
Just like in the other parts of the world, Lions in Uganda, are also endangered with a national population estimated to be less than 500 individuals. This is attributed to Loss of their natural habitats; poaching, human-lion conflict and climate change.
In Uganda lions are mainly found in the three largest savanna parks: Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. Lions, after mountain gorillas, are the most sought-after species by tourists visiting Uganda.
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