"Over ten lions have been poisoned, notably one pride of nine lions has disappeared and we have lost radio communication with one mother that had been radio tagged," said chief warden Tom Okello. The lions had been disappearing over the past 15 months, he added. Despite intensive searches by park warders, they had not been spotted.
Okello suspects a group of around 10,000 Basongora tribesmen of poisoning of the missing animals to stop them preying on their cattle.
A report by veterinarians and lecturers at the country's main Makerere University found that the number of lions, leopards and hyenas had plummeted since the tribesmen entered the park in March 2006. "Over 80 percent of the hyenas have been killed and all leopards along the Nyamusagani river have been poisoned," Doctor Ludwig Siefert said in the report. "We have also lost at least
11 lions in the last 15 months."
According to the report, the park's lion population had slipped from 94 in 1999 to 39 today. It would take 20 years to undo the damage done over the past 15 months, the reported added.
Lions have already been eradicated in several other parks in the region, prompting alarm among conservationists and the tourism sector alike...."
".......But the herdsmen vehemently deny poisoning the cats.
"These are false allegations," Wilson Okaali, chairman of the
Basongora group for justice and human rights, told AFP.
The 10,000-strong Basongora community occupy an area in the 2,000-square-mile (5,200-square-kilometre) park. It was originally intended as a temporary dwelling pending relocation by the Ugandan authorities. The pastoralists were first displaced in 1954, when the park was created and named after the newly crowned Queen of England.
As their tribe straddled several borders, many of the herdsmen and their families fled to what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo until the 1998-2003 war there forced them to move back...."
".....The Basongora claim they have been given no viable option by the Ugandan government because the resettlement land they were offered could not sustain their herds.
Ugandan media have also suggested the government was in hurry to resolve the row before the queen visits the park that bears her name. For the Ugandan government, it would be a highlight of the monarch's visit in November, where she will be attending the Commonwealth summit.
The Basongora also hope things will get better for them. "We have been informed by the government that land has been found but it still has some crops on it that will be harvested in August. We hope to start moving in September," Okaali said.
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