Govt Launches Taskforce to Reverse Decline in Lion Population

What the report says

Uganda has set up a Lion and Large Carnivore Conservation Taskforce to help address declining numbers of lions and other large carnivores, according to Nile Post. The body was inaugurated by Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Minister Tom Butime and is meant to support the ministry and the Uganda Wildlife Authority in coordinating conservation work across the country.

The report says the taskforce was formed after recent assessments showed Uganda’s lion population falling from an estimated 373 in 2020 to 291 in surveys covering 2022 to 2025. The decline has been linked to pressures such as habitat loss, poisoning, retaliatory killings after livestock attacks, poaching and illegal wildlife trade. The article also says other species, including leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs, are under growing pressure.

Nile Post reports that the situation varies by protected area. Murchison Falls National Park remains a major stronghold, while Queen Elizabeth National Park has seen some recovery in lion numbers, though the southern Ishasha sector remains fragile. In Kidepo Valley National Park, lion numbers are described as low, and some landscapes such as Lake Mburo and Toro-Semliki have experienced severe losses.

The taskforce will work under Uganda’s Large Carnivore Strategic Action Plan for 2024–2034, which aims to raise viable carnivore populations and cut poaching threats over the next decade. More broadly, the initiative is intended to improve law enforcement, reduce human-wildlife conflict, restore habitats and strengthen partnerships with communities and conservation groups. The report says this matters for biodiversity and for tourism, which the government sees as an important part of economic growth.