Lion sighted in Chad national park for first time in nearly 20 years

An image was released Thursday of a female lion in Sena Oura National Park in the Central African nation of Chad, the first such image of a lion in the park in “nearly two decades,” officials said.  

The image of “a beautiful lioness, in her prime and clearly in great health” was taken by a “remote camera” on Feb. 22, according to a news release from the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society. 

A lion had not been seen in the national park in nearly 20 years, officials said, adding that the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers lions to be “technically extinct” in the Sena Oura area. 

As a whole, the IUCN classifies lions as “vulnerable” on its Red List of Threatened Species. 

The governments of Cameroon and Chad have shown a commitment to conservation which has helped provide protection for national parks, the WCS said, and in turn has allowed wildlife populations to start recovering after a period of organized poaching more than a decade ago.

Last month, endangered West African lion cubs were caught on video in Senegal. The sighting of the three cubs has given hope that the revered West African lion population could be revived.