Rwanda to import lions from Kenya

KIGALI-- The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) on Monday announced plans to restock the Akagera National Park in eastern part of the country with lions by March.

Appearing before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over financial mismatches cited by the Auditor General in his 2012/ 13 annual audit report, RDB's Head of Tourism and Conservation, Amb. Yamina Karitanyi said plans are underway to import lions whose DNA can easily adjust to the Rwandan environment. The revelation followed concerns by lawmakers over delays in importing lions which had been expected the previous year.

 "We had made progress towards importing lions from Kenya but conservation Non Government Organizations there complained which affected the whole arrangement," Karitanyi said.  According to her, the complaints in Kenya stemmed from the increasing poaching whereby conservationists didn't want to see other animals taken away. As a result, she said, "we decided to source from other countries and we should have them in the park not later than March 2015."

RDB's Conservation Division Manager, Telesphore Ngoga, attributed farther delay of restocking the animals to lack of a fence which had to be put in place to minimize human-animal conflict. He disclosed that they are negotiating with Uganda and Botswana on the possibility of importing the lions from there.

RDB's Chief Executive Officer, Francis Gatare noted that moving animals from one country to another turned out not to be complex than could be imagined. Official information shows that the park once had about 230 lions but after the genocide in 1994 Rwandan returnees occupied the park driving the lions out and killed others.  The plan to restock is aimed to revitalize tourism around the park.