The research group managed to take photos of the lions using camera traps, said Bauer, speaking from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
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Only around 900 Central African lions had been thought to survive in the wild but the discovery of around 200 in Alatash National Park, on Ethiopia’s northwestern border with Sudan, has delighted conservationists.
Bauer and his colleagues opportunity to learn that there is truth to the possibility of lions existing in the remote area came by way of an expedition funded by the Born Free Foundation, a D.C.-based charity.
Bauer, who is working for Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, said the entire ecosystem could be housing a population of one hundred to two hundred lions.
Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand.
Part of the reason the lions have gone undiscovered for so long by outsiders is that the area is rarely visited.
“One new small population does not alter the fact that declines in numbers of lions across Africa are worrisome, but for at least one day we should celebrate”.
“The confirmation that lions persist in this area is exciting news”, said Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation.
The Alatash National Park, located on the border of Ethiopia and Sudan had apparently always been thought to be a potential habitat for lions, but the remoteness of the area had prevented researchers from finding any real evidence of the species in the past.
“During my professional career I have had to revise the lion distribution map many times”, expedition leader Hans Bauer from the University of Oxford, told New Scientist.
However, Bauer believes the Alatash lions may face fewer threats than many other African populations.
But this newly found population, hidden away in the remote Alatash National Park, might be better off than those living close to human development. “We need to do all we can to protect these animals and the ecosystem on which they depend, along with all the other remaining lions across Africa, so we can reverse the declines and secure their future”.
This lion, probably a female, was caught in a camera trap, November 2015, Alatash National Park, Ethiopia.
The discovery of these lost lions is indeed a rare piece of good news.
The welfare of lions came under increased scrutiny previous year when an American dentist killed a well-known lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe in what authorities there said was an illegal hunt.
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“Now we have to support them in improving park management, but I think they’re taking it very seriously”, he added.
