In Limpopo, South Africa, a lonely and vulnerable lioness is roaming the bushveld. Her entire pride has been wiped out by hunters and farmers. Day after day, she remains trapped between a safe sanctuary she cannot access and farmlands where she will likely be killed.
Right now, plans are underway to dart and move her to safety. Teams have begun preparation, and she is being closely monitored. As soon as it is safe for her to be darted, she will be captured.
This regal queen is the lone survivor of a once-proud pride, and now, we are raising funds to secure her relocation into a 36,000-hectare protected game reserve where she will be safe in a spacious fenced area.
With her pride lost to hunting and human-wildlife conflict, this lioness now roams alone. Each day, she moves between a sanctuary she is unable to access and farmlands where she risks being shot. She has no safe place to call ‘home.’ Credit: The LionWatch Project
Threats are all around and closing in fast. We must help right away.
A solitary lioness has managed to evade the horror that met the rest of her pride – but she is in grave danger.
Human-wildlife conflict is escalating across South Africa’s northern farming regions where shrinking habitats force lions beyond protected areas and into danger.
When livestock is lost to a hungry lion – even once – retaliation is often swift and fatal: shooting, poisoning or trapping and killing the animal. This conflict is now one of the leading causes of lion deaths outside reserves in South Africa and solitary lions are the most vulnerable. Without a pride or safe territory, every step this lonely lioness takes risks becoming her last.
Lions are killed and mutilated for trophies or “traditional medicine,” or murdered by farmers in retaliation for attacking livestock. Credit: Tyrone Winfield-Shutterstock
Alone and unprotected, the lioness drifts along the sanctuary’s perimeter, searching for connection. She is desperately lonely and in grave danger.
Lions are highly social creatures who live and thrive in a pride. For hours, this animal lies against the fence of the sanctuary, drawn to the lions inside, aching to belong.
A bonded male and female from another pride have shown her rare moments of kindness. But lions are territorial and her presence is beginning to cause deep stress among the others in the pride – putting not only her life, but theirs, in danger.
Her safety and survival are under threat every moment she spends roaming in the grey area between farmland and the sanctuary’s border.
She’s found brief moments of connection with members from another pride, inside the safety of the reserve fences. But her presence is causing mounting stress, threatening the fragile peace that keeps them all alive. Credit: The LionWatch Project
This is a wild lion and cannot ethically or legally be kept in captivity. Our partner, the LionWatch Project, is prepared to relocate her to a secure reserve where she can join a new pride and live freely as a wild animal once again.
The total cost of the relocation, including a satellite collar to monitor her progress in her new home and ensure she adapts well, is $4,500 (roughly £3,300).
Right now, the lioness risks her life every time she hunts for food. If she kills livestock, even once, she will be shot. This is not a question of if, but when. We MUST help.
Please donate right away and help us relocate this vulnerable animal to a safe, spacious reserve where she can live the wild life she deserves – without the threat of death.
She has already survived the unthinkable. Please don’t let her story end with a gunshot.
