A pride of wild lions will be introduced this month into the Somkhanda Community Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu Natal, the first in the area for about a hundred years.

The pride of three, two females and one male, were given to Somkhanda by &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve as part of its lion management strategy.

Conservation manager of &Beyond Phinda, Simon Naylor, said: “Lions were introduced into &Beyond Phinda back in 1992 and have flourished to the point that, on regular occasions, the lions have exceeded the carrying capacity of the reserve and have had to be translocated to other reserves in South Africa.” He said wild lion numbers were declining across Africa because of habitat loss and poaching.  “The introduction of lion into the Somkhanda Game Reserve is a massive boost for lion conservation in the province of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa and Africa. It will help reverse the current trend of declining lion numbers and wild lion range.”

The documentary Blood Lions, exposing the captive breeding and canned hunting industry, was the inspiration behind the lion translocation. “Lion ecologists state that captive breeding plays no role in the conservation of this species and, to date, no captive-bred, hand-reared lions have successfully been rehabilitated into the wild,” said Wildlands’ CEO and Executive Producer of Blood Lions, Andrew Venter. “It is a shame that we now need to refer to lions as either wild or captive, but Wildlands are very proud to say that we have assisted in the expansion of wild lion range through the introduction of this pride on to Somkhanda. This is truly a pride we can be proud of.”

The translocation process commences at &Beyond Phinda on May 13, ending once the pride have been placed in a boma at Somkhanda. The pride need to be housed in the boma for an adjustment period of six to nine weeks, allowing them to become comfortable with their new environment. Wildlands aims to release the pride on to Somkhanda reserve by the end of July.