Lions to be re-introduced to Rwanda

Lions to be re-introduced to Rwanda two decades after human genocide wiped them out.

Lions will return to Rwanda for the first time in more than two decades after the endangered animal was wiped out in Rwanda's human genocide.

Seven lions, two males and five females, are being transported from South Africa and will arrive by air in Rwanda on Monday, where they will be taken and released after a two-week quarantine into the eastern Akagera National Park.

Lions in Rwanda were wiped out during the 1994 genocide, which left an estimated 800,000 people dead.

Fleeing refugees and displaced people occupied part of the park, with the lion being driven out or killed as people tried to protect their livestock.

Peter Fearnhead, the head of African Parks — which helps run the 112,000-hectare Akagera bordering Tanzania — said the reintroduction was "a ground-breaking conservation effort for both the park and the country of Rwanda".

As part of preparations for the re-introduction, the Akagera park team worked with nearby communities to promote harmonious co-existence with lions.

"Their return will encourage the natural balance of the ecosystem," said Yamina Karitanyi, head of tourism at the Rwanda Development Board

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