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The Congo Lion
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The Congo lion or Northeast Congo lion (Panthera leo azandica), also known as Uganda lion, was proposed as a lion subspecies from northeastern D.R. Congo and western parts of Uganda.
The lion sub species is the The Northeast Congo Lion (Panthera Leo Azandica) Transcript of Northeast Congo Lion History The Northeast Congo Lion has been around since 120,000 years ago, which was when scientists estimated that the lion subspecies had diverged from a common ancestor. They now live in the Congo, but it is unlikely that they had originated there. Northeast Congo Lion (Panthera Leo Azandica) Coloring As with other subspecies of lion, these lions are typically one solid color; a light brown, or a form of goldish yellow. The coloring gets lighter as it descends from their back to their feet. Male's manes are a darker shade of gold or brown, and their mane is noticeable thicker and longer than the rest of the fur on their body. "Basic Facts About Congo Lions." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2015. Bradford, Alina. "Lions: Facts & Information." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 02 Oct. 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Tree Climbing Lions of Uganda  *This image is copyright of its original author Tree-climbing lion, Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. (Photo Copyright © Alexander Krivenyshev, WorldTimeZone.com) More on the Tree-Climbing LIons in Uganda  *This image is copyright of its original author The Real Lion King: Photographing a Regal Male Lion in Uganda  *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author I recently spent a few days in Kidepo Valley National Park, a remote reserve in the North of Uganda that borders South Sudan and Kenya.  *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author I hadn’t been in the Valley long when I met the resident male lion, a handsome chap known as “Spartacus”. It was late in the afternoon and the light was beautiful, but he was in long grass and I couldn’t get a clear shot. Over to my right was a beautiful kopje (a small hill) and I thought it would be an incredible shot if he sat on top of it. Well, he must have heard my thoughts because the next thing I knew, he was up and heading in that direction.  *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author I willed him to keep going and I was pinching myself as he started to climb. He sat himself down exactly where I had hoped and then looked at me with his regal gaze. I couldn’t believe my luck! It is so rare that a wild animal actually does what you want it to! In front of me was a scene straight out of the Lion King…  *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author After I had the front-lit shot, I moved round to silhouette him as the sun went down behind the distant mountains. It was a thrilling welcome to the Kidepo Valley!  *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author I didn’t see Spartacus again after this encounter, but the “Lion King” photo above went viral online. A lion has been spotted in Gabon for the first time in nearly 20 years, raising hopes the animals long feared extinct in the country could be returning, conservationists said on Thursday. Lions used to roam Central Africa in their hundreds in the middle of the last century. But the population has fallen sharply due to poaching and loss of habitat." "Hidden cameras planted as part of a chimpanzee study in southeastern Gabon's Bateke Plateau have captured on tape a single male lion three times since January, said Dr. Philipp Henschel, Lion Program Survey Coordinator for campaign group Panthera. "I couldn't believe it. As soon as I could, I went there to set up more cameras," he told Reuters by phone from Libreville, adding that a new study was being launched in the hope of finding more of the big cats. Lions are known to live a few hundred kilometers (miles) away in Democratic Republic of Congo and Henschel said the animal could have swum across the Congo river, one of the world's largest, and traveled over to Gabon's savannah." http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gabon-...I720150312  *This image is copyright of its original author http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/02/africa/gab...irst-lion/
Laur' in Photography
Lion of AFRICA - CONGO  *This image is copyright of its original author Harikant Dhinoja SO AMAZING...SO WONDERFULL. AN AFRICAN LION CLIMED SO HIGH ON TREE......AFRICAN RAINFOREST IN GABAN....REPUBLIC OF CONGO.  *This image is copyright of its original author Burrard-Lucas Photography In honour of #WorldLionDay, here's a young male lion photographed in Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park.  *This image is copyright of its original author Male lions, an adolescent and an adult in Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth NP - Uganda  *This image is copyright of its original author Here is a great sight – the coalition of 3 males in a tree together. Can you spot them all? Rudi, Papa, and Omukama are still roaming very widely. This is normal behavior for territorial male lions. However, in an area with such high human population density like Queen Elizabeth National Park, it brings increased risk of human-carnivore conflict. We continue to monitor the situation closely.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Happy #WorldLionDay!
We take the opportunity on this day to reflect on the past year in our lion conservation and research activities. Sadly, we lost one known lion to human-carnivore conflict. This is after going through the 2014-2015 period with no known losses. While we are sad about the loss, we know it could have been much worse, given the number of livestock attacked by lions in villages around the park this past year. We thank the local communities for their continued patience in the face of the losses they suffer from wildlife. We have much to be grateful for, including: * We established the park's first scout program, thanks to support provided by Disney Conservation Fund. We now have 3 scouts based in the village of Hamakungu and another scout who works in villages throughout the area. Great job, Kenneth, Robert, Loice, and Shafi! * 5 strong livestock enclosures were built in the village of Hamakungu, thanks again to support provided by Disney Conservation Fund. There have been no cattle losses in these enclosures to date. The villagers also appreciate that people outside of Uganda are concerned about their well-being and livelihoods. We hope to build more in the coming year. * We've distributed a couple hundred sets of solar lights to livestock owners throughout the area, thanks to support from Oakland Zoo. Lions and hyenas have so far generally been avoiding even the weaker enclosures that have these lights. * We have been able to increase our village educational activities, with support from Oakland Zoo and Disney Conservation Fund, and have reached over 500 rural schoolchildren the past year. * Thanks to funding from Oakland Zoo and the Astarc Group, we were finally able to retire our 30+ year old research vehicle and buy a newer one. This has enabled us to safely and reliably continue with our research and conservation activities and go into difficult terrain that was previously too dangerous in our older vehicle. * Our community livelihoods development initiative continues to grow, thanks to support from local tour operators who bring their clients to the community-run "Leopard Village", where they can watch performances by community performance groups, purchase locally made crafts, and even stay in basic accommodations run by a women's group with whom we work. This helps the local communities benefit more directly from the park's wildlife. * We also thank the many tourists who have gone out in the field with us on Uganda Wildlife Authority's lion tracking experience and who have subsequently made donations to villagers who have lost livestock to carnivores. We believe these donations have helped to significantly reduce retaliation against the carnivores. In addition, the donations by the tourists show the villagers that others are concerned about the challenges they face living next to the wildlife that people from all over the world come to Uganda to see. Finally, thank you to all of the individuals who have provided support to us this past year – in monetary donations and via your time. As a small field-based team, we are grateful for each of you. Please know that you have personally had a significant, positive impact on Uganda’s lions, hyenas, and leopards. We could not do this without you. Happy #WorldLionDay everyone!!! #LetLionsLive #CauseAnUproar  *This image is copyright of its original author
We wanted to take a few minutes to close the story of male lion Cabral.
As we told you a few weeks ago, we suspect he was killed by a cattle owner from the Nyoktonzi River area. This is one of the worst areas of the park for carnivores. Many have been poisoned here over the last several years – including lioness Fiona and her 2 cubs, male lion Nubi, and lioness Aziya and her entire pride. Cattle routinely cross the river and enter the park to graze illegally. This is where they come into contact with lions, who often prey on the cattle. Over time, some of the lions learn to follow the cattle back into the community land and continue to attack cattle there. We know Cabral was attacking cattle both on park land and on the community side. While we don’t currently have the funding to establish a formal community program in Nyoktonzi, we had been meeting more frequently with the livestock owners after several positive meetings with community leaders late last year. We became increasingly worried about Cabral after repeatedly getting his radio collar’s signal from the community side of the river without a change in location. After a few days with no change, we crossed the swollen river on foot and went into a steep ravine where the signal was coming from. We eventually tracked the radio signal to a spot along the river. Our senior research assistant James dug into the sand on the riverbank until he reached the collar (see photo). We never discovered Cabral’s remains, but his radio collar was neatly cut - clearly by a person – and deliberately buried in the sand. Cabral was quite a character. We knew him from when he was a cub and formally monitored him for ~3.5 years. Cabral was ~6 years old at the time of his death and ranged on his own throughout northwest Queen Elizabeth. He would occasionally meet up with a female, and we observed him mating with lioness Juma last year. If any of you have stayed on the Mweya peninsula, you likely heard his loud vocalizations at night and may have even caught site of him in the evenings. During the day, he could be shy. And when the coalition of Papa, Rudi and Omukama came to his side of the park, he would hide and be completely silent in order to avoid confrontation. We learned a lot about the life of solo, nomadic male lions from monitoring Cabral. We miss him!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Young Sankara is being very bold and is now regularly mating with lioness Kogere - as long as the ruling male coalition is elsewhere, that is!
When the 3 ruling males return to their core area, Sankara and his two brothers go silent and leave the area. It will be interesting to observe the future dynamic between these 2 trios. The last time there was a change in the ruling coalition was ~4-5 years ago. It actually occurred over the span of a couple of years, starting from when Rudi-Papa-Omukama arrived in this area from the Ishasha side to when the older coalition of Mr. Grey and Twin moved over to Mweya and eventually died. It remains to be see what will happen between these two groups.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Happy Caturday! Papa is looking awful sheepish- he's hiding from some elephants that chased him away. #uganda #queenelizabethpark #wildlife #conservation #humanwildlifeconflict #fieldresearch #kasenyi #ugandacarnivoreprogram #ucp #nature #ugandacarnivores #lion #leo #panthera #pantheraleo #leon #LiondAfrique #vulnerable #endangered #CITES #AppendixII #elephant #africanelephant #Elephantidae #Loxodontaafricana #vulnerable #jointheherd #AppendixI #caturday #knowyoursize  *This image is copyright of its original author Though we may have lost a lion's life recently...it appears new life is beginning. This is Rudi mating with Juma, near the Queen's Mile tourist track near Mweya Peninsula. Papa and Omukama watched from a distance, eager to join, but Rudi kept them away! #springhassprung #uganda #queenelizabethpark #wildlife #conservation #humanwildlifeconflict #fieldresearch #kasenyi #ugandacarnivoreprogram #ucp #nature #ugandacarnivores #lion #leo #panthera #pantheraleo #leon #LiondAfrique #vulnerable #endangered #CITES #AppendixII #lionsmating #putonthatmarvingaye #Rudi #Juma  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author I asked about their weights "Thanks for the message and the "like"! We used to try to weigh them when we tranquilized them to put a radio collar on them, but putting collars on them isn't done very frequently. Also, our weighing system broke a few years ago, and we don't have the funds to buy a new one. So, we don't have any official weights from the last few years. And even when it was operational, we didn't always have the time to weigh them since there's a lot to be done in the short amount of time they are tranquilized. I can ask Dr. Siefert, our team leader, if he might have any historical records. It may take a while to get the answer from him as the internet connection is very weak. I will let you know if / when I hear back from him!" I'll post any info I found out in the coming days  
A long time i wanted to share information about the lions in Uganda, but between one thing and another... I had already insert information about "The Coalition of Three" in thread "Lion Directory", you can also copy here.
The lions in these territories are very interesting. Certainly, there isn't the high number of exemplars present in the Kruger. thanks for sharing @Pckts. This is one of those: From Uganda Carnivore Program: "Mr. Grey, shown here on the left, was 18 years old when he died of natural causes in July 2012! This was quite an old age for a lion in the wild, and he’s got the battle marks to prove it! His eye was likely damaged by a waterbuck or kob long ago. He was frequently in the company of male lion Twin, who was likely Mr. Grey's son." Mr. Grey  *This image is copyright of its original author Sharon & Twin  *This image is copyright of its original author "Twin, who was about 14 years old when he died a few weeks before Mr. Grey, is shown here with lioness Sharon. Since Twin was younger and stronger, he was usually the one who got the females! Twin and Mr. Grey were pushed out of their territory near the Kasenyi kob grounds by The Coalition of Three. Before they died, they were ranging between the Mweya peninsula and the village of Katanguru (map), where goats often illegally graze in the park. Twin and Mr. Grey have, in turn, pushed lone young male lions further to the outer boundaries of the park."  (08-21-2016, 02:13 AM)Pckts Wrote: omg these are some of the most spectacular pictures i have seen! The backdrop is simply breathtaking, no wonder it went viral! And so are the pictures of the tree climbing male lions in post #2. Thumbs up! (08-24-2016, 03:12 AM)Ngala Wrote: A long time i wanted to share information about the lions in Uganda, but between one thing and another... I had already insert information about "The Coalition of Three" in thread "Lion Directory", you can also copy here. the hallmark of a battle scarred warrior! 
I would like to see images and have current news of lions in the Garamba and Virunga parks. I do not know of any lion conservation program in this country, I have no information about their situation, their numbers, and their current area of occurrence. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is fighting for the conservation of its last 35 giraffes in Garamba. Already the lions? No information.
(12-28-2016, 10:42 PM)Matias Wrote: I would like to see images and have current news of lions in the Garamba and Virunga parks. I do not know of any lion conservation program in this country, I have no information about their situation, their numbers, and their current area of occurrence. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is fighting for the conservation of its last 35 giraffes in Garamba. Already the lions? No information.African Parks African Parks has been listed as a beneficiary on World Lion Days' list of "Who to Support"  *This image is copyright of its original author :-) Four of the seven parks managed by African Parks have known resident lion populations: Garamba NP (DRC), Liuwa Plain NP (Zambia), Majete Wildlife Reserve (Malawi), and Zakouma NP (Chad). African Parks has implemented, supported and funded vital lion conservation management programmes in these areas and our continuing work is ensuring the long time survival of these populations. If you would like to support our lion conservation efforts as well as other lion conservation organisations, click on the link below *This image is copyright of its original author :-)http://worldlionday.com/associates/ Paula Siggins I for the life of me cannot understand why the thought of the last Giraffe standing in the Congo gets such little attention.. The LAST Giraffe in the DRC are in imminent danger of disappearing forever .. Spots & Stripes Conservation DRC - 8 of the last 38 Giraffe in DRC are collared at Garamba NP Parks Manager Erik Mararv and the Rangers at Garamba National Park need as much support that can be afforded .. Please follow the link to African Parks to donate towards their work on the ground ..  *This image is copyright of its original author New Kabobo Natural Reserve in the DRC https://www.wcs.org/…/new-protected-area-created-in-the-dem… #WCS, WCS RD CONGO, #Conservation, #Biodiversity, #DRC Introducing the Kabobo Natural Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo! This newly-created protected area is home to chimpanzees, hippos, elephants, and lions. WCS surveys here in recent years discovered new mammals and plants (and likely amphibians) previously unknown to science. http://bit.ly/2hI2Fz3 Photo: ©A.J. Plumptre/WCS Male African Lion, taken in African rainforest, Republic of Congo  *This image is copyright of its original author Best I could do for Virunga Sauvons le Parc National de Virunga About Virunga Virunga is Africa’s oldest national park and a treasured World Heritage Site. It’s the size of a small country, straddling the equator in Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s got more than its share of wonderful wildlife - not just huge numbers of unique birds, but African icons like lions, elephants, hippos, chimps and the remarkable okapi. And a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas. People who live and work there know it’s a very special place. The future for Virunga Soco's commitment to withdraw from Virunga is a victory for the people who depend directly on the park’s resources and a triumph for everyone who values the rare plants, animals and habitats the park was set up to protect. While we have received several assurances that the company has dismantled its operations, we continue to monitor the situation in the park. With the development of hydropower, fisheries and ecotourism industries, Virunga can have a prosperous and sustainable future. Now is the time for the DRC government to reaffirm its conviction that Virunga has outstanding universal value for all humanity by cancelling all oil concessions overlapping the park, as requested by UNESCO. Only then will Virunga’s outstanding value truly be secure for the future, and only then can the park reach its full potential to drive sustainable economic development in Democratic Republic of the Congo. We will also continue to say no to the pressures putting World Heritage Sites in danger across the globe.  *This image is copyright of its original author heres a virunga safari link https://www.facebook.com/VirungaSafaris/...CH&fref=nf
Donna Miller
Beautiful trek thru Ishasha Forest which borders Uganda and the Congo. 600 species of birds and of coarse the Tree Climbing Lions. Another awesome day in the bush!!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
The Congo lions also belong to the subspecies of the African lion.
However, this clade of African lions was the one that gave the birth to the Asiatic lions (including Barbary lions/Persian lions/European lions). Like their endangered descendants from outside of the Sub Saharan Africa, their population is also becoming extremely vulnerable. I think these African lions are the most suitable ones to get involved into the Asiatic lion breeding program.
Thanks, Pckts.
Great photos and information. We see lots of information about Queen Elizabeth Park, Murchison Falls and when it comes to the lion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo area I do not see anything current (last 5 years). I am following the work of the NGO AFRICAN PARKS and its current 10 protected parks / protected areas, including the Chinko Project in CAR (a very interesting area, a biome of 1,700,000 hectares, and the serious problem of armed herding, rebel groups, Hunting meat, an unstable government, a great challenge). I realize that the lion numbers in Garamba are very small, and protecting them in their anonymity without giving any clue about their numbers or location in the park can be a strategy to give them more chance of not being located by poaching. The presence of militias and rebel groups makes Garamba a very dangerous place. I remember reading about the attack suffered by Mr. Eric Mararv where, I'm not sure, two guards were killed. It is a disaster that lions have disappeared from the Odzala / Kokoua biome in neighboring Republic of Congo. We must celebrate the full success of Zakouma National Park: when the government really supports, provides the appropriate subsidies for its conservation success is inevitable, and the know-how of NGO African Parks is increasingly recognized. It is always a relief to know that lions are still present in Garamba, Virunga and in the now newly created (I did not know this area) Kabobo / Ngandja Nature Reserve.
Photo and information credits: Philipp Henschel
"Gabon’s sole lion still on the prowl in Plateaux Batéké National Park! The adult male lion, first photo-trapped in the park in January 2015, is currently the only wild lion surviving in Gabon, since the species became extinct in the country the mid-1990ies. After a few months without new records, the male was repeatedly filmed by camera traps in July (see photo) and September, through efforts from Panthera, The Aspinall Foundation (TAF) and Gabon’s National Park Agency (ANPN). A real breakthrough was the collection of a hair sample from the lion one week ago, discovered in the cracks of the bark of a tree the lion marked, while following its spoor. This sample will permit the establishment of the genetic makeup of this lion, hopefully helping to assess his origin and to identify suitable females for release into the area, should the Gabonese authorities aim to reestablish a breeding lion population in Batéké. There are two recognized sub-species of lion in Africa, and this lion is located on the limit between the two, and could belong to either. We will know more soon…"  *This image is copyright of its original author
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