Lion cubs are born in Rwanda in boost to predator’s fortunes

JOHANNESBURG – Three lion cubs were born in a wildlife park in Rwanda, boosting efforts to restore the country’s lion population, which was wiped out following the country’s 1994 genocide.

African Parks, a Johannesburg-based group that manages Akagera National Park in Rwanda, said the mother is 11-year-old Shema, one of seven lions transported from South Africa to Rwanda last year. Their father, Ntwari, is five years old, one of two males in the group from South Africa.

“It’s news that we have been waiting for,” Sarah Hall, Akagera’s tourism and marketing manager, said Friday.

Cattle herders poisoned Rwanda’s last lions after the park was left unmanaged in the genocide’s aftermath. Returning refugees took over much of the park, reducing its size by more than half.

The reintroduction of lions at Akagera is a rare piece of good news for Africa’s lion population, which has plummeted in recent decades because of a loss of prey and habitat and growing conflict with rural communities that seek to protect their livestock.

The cubs at Akagera, which are about six weeks old, were spotted with their mother on Wednesday.

Ntwari, the dominant male in the Akagera group, has also been seen mating with two other lions, indicating that more cubs could be on the way, according to African Parks.

“We are aware that they do breed quite quickly, which is why we couldn’t bring in too many to start with,” she said. There is no concern for now about inbreeding because the females have adequate “genetic diversity” and the males are unrelated, according to Hall.

African Parks cautions that lion cubs are especially vulnerable in their first few months because they can be attacked by predators and rely completely on their mother.

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