The Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Program

Stage Two

The Ngamo Release Site

On September 1st 2010 Francis Nhema, Zimbabwe’s Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, opened our stage two at the Ngamo release site next to Antelope Park in central Zimbabwe.

Ngamo has become the new home of the six Dollar Block veterans; Ashanti, Phyre, Kenge, Nala, Narnia and Athena as well as new additions to the pride; Milo and Kwali. To date these lions have already exceeded our already high expectations. With the foundations laid at Dollar Block they had a very high standard to maintain and the initial results have been very promising. They have managed to create a dynamic, highly efficient, self-sustaining pride, with results that mirror the behaviour one would expect in wild prides.

An ongoing and detailed research program looking at many aspects of the lions’ behaviour is being undertaken to establish the pride’s behaviour in the context of what would be expected within a wild pride.

In accordance with our new release protocols following the events at Dollar Block, the females were released first, and within 24 hours they had made two kills on a juvenile zebra and a juvenile wildebeest. Within the first couple of days they had started to show similar behaviour to what we had observed at Dollar Block; whilst they spend a lot of time together, the nature of a dynamic pride sees sub-groups break off from time to time, whether it’s for hunting or just exploring.

Two weeks after the release it was agreed that the females has created a stable pride environment and had proved they were more than capable of being self-sufficient. We took the decision that it was time to introduce a seven year old male, Milo, who had been held in a neighbouring enclosure to the females for many months prior to release to instigate the bonding process. Whilst, there was some anxiety over whether some of the females, mainly Phyre, would submit to Milo’s dominance; our worries were quickly subdued as each female acknowledged his presence and submitted accordingly.

Following this display from the females, we can report that a stable pride social system appears to have been established; one of the criteria for success in this stage of the program. Over the following weeks since release these lions have become well settled. They continue to prove that they are very adept hunters.

To date, on the evidence we have collected so far, we are excited about the potential of this pride as they are closely mirroring the behaviours that would be expected from wild lions.

To read a summary report of the first seven months of the pride's life click here.

The Dollar Block Release Site

In January 2009 ALERT was forced to its position with regard the Dollar Block release area; extreme deterioration of the economic situation in Zimbabwe, coupled with the site’s remote location had severe negative impacts on our ability to service the monitoring programme adequately and provide land security to the release area. The difficult decision was made to bring the lions back to Antelope Park and re-release in the Ngamo Release site.

Continuing financial difficulties within the country delayed this re-release beyond the ideal although this did give us a good opportunity to bond an additional female to the pride as well as introduce a male.

Although the Dollar Block program, which commenced in September 2007, was halted prematurely, we have great reason to believe that it was a resounding success. All the selected individuals proved they were able to form a self-sufficient pride capable of hunting and feeding itself, bringing down the likes of wildebeest, eland and giraffe. On average the Dollar Block lions achieved an average of 7.4 kilos of meat consumed per lion per day; a figure that sits comfortably within the range defined by a number of wild lion researchers. This behaviour led to an independent researcher from the University of Zimbabwe concluding that ‘captive-bred lions are able to kill and sustain themselves’ (Mandisodza 2008).

On top of this we have been able to use the results we had achieved to improve the release protocols to ensure every possibility of further success in future releases.

Like any unique and pioneering programme, our first stage two was tainted by unforeseen events; most prominent of which was the death of two females within the pride:, Muti and Mampara. The following release was issued in response to these events...

On the morning of 23rd October 2007 our research team discovered the body of Muti, one of our females in stage two of the African Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Program at the Dollar Block reserve in Zimbabwe. The two co-introduced males, Maxwell and Luke, were in the vicinity, and we presume that Muti's death might have been caused by an aggressive encounter.

On the 28th of October Maxwell and Luke were witnessed attacking Mampara, another of the females. During the fight she seemed to have sustained only a single puncture wound to one of her back legs. Her subsequent death suggests that possible internal injuries might also have occurred.

This is a very sad moment for all the staff on the project who had worked with Muti and Mampara to prepare them for release, as early indications suggested they were doing very well at hunting and bonding with the other released lions.

We have extensively discussed this event with our expert consultants; Dr. Don Heath and Dr. Pieter Kat, to try and understand what may have caused this to happen. Although all seven lions seemed to be well bonded in the first weeks after release, the males had been seen starting to chase the females around. Such interactions also occur among wild lions; often after a pride takeover the new males will engage in such activity, but this rarely results in injury as the young females are faster than the males and can get out of the way. When a male can isolate a female however he will attempt to dominate, and such aggression in this case might have resulted in the death of two of the females. We, as well as other lion breeding programs, have experienced such mortality, although the causes of such events are often difficult to determine.

The principal objective of stage two was to release captive born lions back into a natural situation where they could entirely fend for themselves. This was achieved and the lions had started to successfully hunt prey species at the release site and could be considered competent hunters. This should be considered remarkable progress from the captive born cubs that they were. Our careful and dedicated programs have made this a reality.

Early indications were that the released pride was bonding well and behaving in a manner akin to a wild pride. As a result of these recent events we will give even more focus to research into sociality within release prides to ensure that males and females are socially compatible.

Reintroduction of intelligent animals with complex sociality is always difficult. We do the best we can with the information we have available. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in the USA in 1995 was a similarly complex issue and not without problems and setbacks, although the introduced wolves were wild-caught in Canada. Lions are a species with a solitary heritage in an uncomfortable group situation. They are all individuals attempting to make their best way in a group.

We can only make assumptions as to why Muti and Mampara died - there are many complexities to this occurrence that might not involve male aggression per se. We continually review and refine our release protocols, and will do so again in continued consultation with Dr. Don Heath and Dr. Pieter Kat.

We have acknowledged from the start that this innovative, original and complex program would encounter setbacks. We have no ability to incorporate advice from concurrent or past programs. We are pioneers, and accept all responsibilities associated with that designation. As the lions attain their skills, so will we. ALERT is ultimately dedicated to the conservation of this magnificent species. All beginnings are difficult, but we will dedicate our adaptive and considered energies to succeed.

Following these events we determined that female only prides should be released initially, and only once they are settled and have proved they can co-exist as a pride will a male of no less than 5 years be introduced to them.

The two males, Luke and Maxwell were removed from the Dollar Block site and into holding enclosures before being returned to Antelope in March 2008 (the onset of the rainy season made it impossible to move them sooner). They remain at Antelope Park at present awaiting re-release in a different pride at a later date. The females continued to live in the release site, successfully hunting, during this period.

The three remaining females, Ashanti, Phyre and Kenge were also carefully introduced to three further females; Nala, Narnia and Athena in March 2008 and the whole female pride of six re-released in April 2008. Our research concluded that a self-sustaining and socially stable pride was established – the criteria for success in this stage.

When Dollar Block operations were shut down, all the lions were moved back to Antelope Park. To ensure they maintained their bond they were placed in the same enclosure with the new addition Kwali added, and Milo, the male, in the adjoining enclosure. This was a necessary step while the Ngamo release site was planned and prepared. However, this also allowed them to interact with Milo, and over the bonding period we observed a lot of positive behaviour between Milo and the, now, seven girls, cementing the belief that we had selected the right individual to lead this group.

Dollar Block can only be viewed as a success; our lions achieved something that many believed would not be possible, a self-sustaining pride of captive-bred lions. This is the first time this sort of solution has been implemented, and with no other methodologies or results to compare against we believe that Dollar Block achieved more than was expected and we will take the lessons we have learnt and implement them in future releases.

Further stage two release plans

Antelope Park have secured 6200 acres of prime savannah grasslands adjacent to the reserve through an agreement with local Zimbabwean authorities.  The site is large enough to build several stage two release areas but current plans are to build three, the first of which, the Ngamo release area, has already been completed.

Land for two further stage two release areas has been secured in the Dambwa Forest just outside the town of Livingstone in Zambia.

The land is owned by the Zambian Forestry Commission and leased to ALERT (Zambia) through a Forestry Concession Agreement, signed on 10th August, 2006. The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Andrew Conolly, founder of ALERT, along with members of the Zambian Forestry Commission, Wildlife Authority and the Zambian Ministry of Justice.

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted following a public meeting at which local communities and other stakeholders were able to suggest areas of concern that should be considered during the EIA process. The completed EIA was submitted to the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) in November 2007 for its consideration. ECZ gave approval for the program on 30th May 2008 and the Forestry Commission confirmed that construction could commence in May 2009.

A number of other locations in various countries are currently under consideration as possible stage two release sites.

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