Preserving Uganda’s Lions

When driving through Queen Elizabeth National Park, it’s hard to see the challenges the pristine game park is facing. Yet, with Dr. Ludwig Siefert behind the steering wheel, your perspective quickly shifts.

Lu behind the wheel

‘Lu’ is a German, 70-year-old veterinarian specialising in big cats. When we meet him on the porch of one of the Wildlife Services bandas, he gives us some background info on the big cats he tries to protect in the park.

Especially the lions of Queen Elizabeth National Park are having a hard time, he explains: “Since I started researching the lions of QENP 20 years ago, their numbers went down almost 50 percent.” While he is telling us about the big cats we will hopefully meet in the thickets later on, we run into several herds of elephants.

Greeted by elephants

According to Siefert, there are problems with the wildlife balance in the park, which drives lions to the surrounding villages. “Why would a lion run after a kob, when it can easily grab a cow?” he asks. “If a lion eats cattle, we’re compensating for community’s losses, to prevent poaching.”

Not only lions go outside the park, community members also come into the park, to poach and cultivate crops. “Critics say the park will become a zoo,” Siefert continues, “but fences and trenches are probably the only option to solve these problems.”

Lu and the lions he tries to protect

Lu tracks the carnivores of the ‘royal’ park, together with James, who’s on the roof of the truck, scouting the area with a telemetry antenna. Several lions in QENP wear a GPS collar. This is for research purposes, but also to make sure the hungry cats don’t come too close to the surrounding communities.

We found this male lion after a tough off-trail drive through the rugged hills of QENP

As a result of his work as a vet, Ludwig is allowed to go ‘off-trail’, and so we are able to drive directly up to four prides. It is an amazing experience to get so close to a lion. You can also, for a custom fee, book a trip with Ludwig through the Uganda Carnivores Program.

Story by Joost Bastmeijer, a freelance travel writer and photojournalist from The Netherlands, currently traveling through Africa. Check out my photos on Instagram at instagram.com/joostbastmeijer or on my website: joostbastmeijer.com!