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The effects of climate change are threatening a reduction in the population of lions, which has reduced from thousands to 430 beasts in Uganda and yet they play a big role in balancing the ecosystem.

To make matters worse, given the raging war for resources with human beings, the survivors are brutally electrocuted, poisoned, or shot dead.

“Investing in lion conservation is not simply a charitable act that might protect populations of other particular species, it also benefits many commercial, climate, and environment activities that rely on lions indirectly where they live.

The advantage is they do their job at no cost,” the African Wildlife Foundation CEO, Kaddu Sebunya, said in a statement on World Lion Day, celebrated on August, 10.

True to Kaddu’s word, in Uganda, lions directly support ecosystem services by attracting domestic and foreign tourists worth millions of dollars annually.

In the same tone, Sam Mwandha, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) executive director, said in Uganda, lion conservation supports other ecosystem services by maintaining water sources vital for drinking and power, supporting food security, storing carbon to mitigate climate change and protecting communities against weather-related disasters.

“Lions also have important livelihood, cultural and spiritual values, being at the heart of African culture,’’ he noted.

“But most of all, lions generate economic benefits and attract new revenue, through a better understanding of ecosystem services, which help conservationists and communities access diverse funding streams, supporting livelihoods, sustainable development, and the large cats,’’ Mwandha added.

The Lions Day, which is celebrated annually, is a campaign that aims at bringing people together globally to pay tribute to the lions and raise awareness of the issues facing lion conservation.

In Kampala, animal rights activists, conservationists, nature lovers, and artists filled The National Theatre as they joined the rest of the world in celebrating lions.

“Nature needs lions to balance the wilderness by preying on grazers to decongest the reducing habitat in parks,” Edith Asiimwe, the World Animal Protection representative in Uganda, said.

“We should act now or risk having the lions go extinct as the white rhinos did in 1986 when the last one was poached in Uganda. Reintroducing them is an expensive venture,’’ she noted.

Asiimwe criticised the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) for overcrowding the place with visitors, which disturbs the peace of the animals.

‘‘In peak season, you find crowds of children squealing with excitement at the caged lions,’’ she noted.

“They belong in the wild where their roar can be heard as far away as five kilometres. Our lifestyles are responsible for the dwindling number of lions. Communities in the park are rearing livestock in the vicinity of these beasts,” Asiimwe said.

Benefits 

The lion’s ecosystem services include benefits that humans gain from the natural environment, health, and properly functioning ecosystems.

These range from the basic ecological functions that keep life going, such as photosynthesis and nutrient recycling preying on grazers.

“Effects of climate change, such as droughts and floods tremendously affect the reproductive patterns of lions and yet they determine the numbers of grazers and are a tourist attraction of Queen Elizabeth National Park where they climb trees in Ishasha,” Steven Nyadru, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) tourism warden, said.

Eliminate lions from Kidepo, Queen Elizabeth, and Murchison Falls national parks and risk being overwhelmed by their prey, which happen to be grazers, such as hyenas, antelopes, and zebras.

Vultures that feast on its carcass leftovers would also starve to death. Climate change effects are a common occurrence in Kasese, which has been prone to floods and conflicts between nature and people.

To make matters worse, the threat to the survival of the king of the jungle is the witchcraft practitioners using their nails, bones, and teeth in herbal concoctions.

The absence of lions in Mburo National Park has seen the carrying capacity of grazers, like antelopes, zebras, and bush backs, overwhelmed.

Kidepo Valley National Park boasts the largest buffalo herd of 10,000 beasts as a result of fewer lions to