Our team in Queen Elizabeth National Park, together with the Uganda Wildlife Authority team and Dr. Ludwig Siefert of the Uganda Carnivore Program, has successfully replaced a GPS collar on a strategically important lioness we first collared two years ago.

We had been monitoring her pride and watched the cubs grow. Around two years of age, the young lions began wandering away from the pride, often venturing outside the park. We were able to locate them back then and collar her. The previous collar had helped us track her and her siblings as they roamed widely, sometimes reaching toward the Rwenzoris. When that collar went offline, we kept watch, until she was sighted again last week.

With her movements now back on EarthRanger, the real-time park management system used by UWA, we’ll gain fresh insights into her pride’s behavior, hunting patterns, and territory use. This data is critical for mapping wildlife corridors, identifying conflict hotspots, and guiding conservation decisions that protect both lions and communities.

Africa has lost 75% of its lions in the last 50 years. But thanks to these ongoing conservation efforts, Queen Elizabeth National Park hasn’t lost a single lion to human-wildlife conflict in over two years, and in just the past few weeks, 10 new cubs have been sighted!

A few collars are still available, and the team is ready to act whenever a suitable candidate is identified. Each collaring is strategic: we choose the individual that will give the clearest picture of pride dynamics and movements, providing the most insight for their protection.

We’re grateful to our partners, Great Plains Conservation, Tusk and the SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, for making this work possible. Together, we’re changing the story of Uganda’s lions for the better!