EDITORIAL: A milestone for Rwanda’s wildlife conservation

Today will mark a milestone in the country’s wildlife conservation efforts. Seven lions will finally set foot in Akagera National Park after trans-location from South Africa. This comes almost 20 years since the last surviving lion in the country died. For decades, the country’s wildlife has been without the king of the jungle. The re-introduction of lions in Rwanda will boost the tourism industry and wild life conservation. Local tourism should get even better as many people will flock the national park to have a glimpse of the lions in their wilderness. Children in schools should be able to see these animals in their natural habitat and not just in pictures or on television. Like the brains behind the project noted, the return of lions to Akagera is a conservation milestone for the park and the country. While in the past Rwanda had lions, they were killed to extinction because of conflict with human beings. The lions would attack people living in the nearby communities, sometimes killing them. The lions also feasted on domestic animals, and people responded by killing the lions especially through poisoning. However, today, communities around the park should have no fears that the lions could become a problem like in the past because government, through Rwanda Development Board (RDB), built an electric fence around the park to protect the communities from wild animals, and to also protect the park from human encroachment and poachers. On September 5, 2013, RDB officially launched a 110km electrical fence delineating the western boundaries of Akagera National Park in order to substantially curtail human-wildlife conflicts that characterised communities adjacent to the park. Nonetheless, Rwandans will need to adopt the culture of visiting the country’s national parks and other local heritage sites to help grow the tourism sector.

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EDITORIAL: A milestone for Rwanda’s wildlife conservation