“Angela” and her third litter
Angela (xpl 75) repopulated the Ugab and Huab region for around ten years. She died in February 2021 from starvation, aged 14.5 years, and her third litter of cubs was lost with her.
Lion Prides
Desert lion prides
The prides of the Kunene region, and the individual animals that made them known. Only prides whose home ranges fall outside the Palmwag Concession Area — and so are exposed to human-lion conflict — are named here; some, such as the Achab pride, frequent areas both inside and outside the concession.
Named prides
Prides of the Kunene
Each of the following prides holds a home range within the Kunene region of Namibia, where livestock farming and free-ranging lions meet. Their status below was recorded on 3 September 2018 and is updated from time to time as field information changes.
- Ugab
- Huab
- Hoanib
- Hoanib Floodplain
- Okongwe
- Obab
- Achab
How to read this page
The lion details and pride status recorded here reflect observations and photographs gathered between 2015 and 2021. They describe the prides as they were known at those times and are not a current population count.
For current reporting on lion welfare, poisoning incidents and drought conditions in the Kunene, see the Challenges report and the Blog & News archive.
The desert lions of the Kunene region live in prides, each one holding a home range where free-ranging lions share space with livestock farming communities. Understanding these social groupings helps conservationists locate animals, anticipate where conflict may arise, and target interventions that keep both wildlife and herders safe. The prides listed here are those whose ranges fall outside the Palmwag Concession Area, making them especially exposed to human-lion conflict, though some, such as the Achab pride, are regularly seen on both sides of the boundary.
Desert lions face an unusual combination of pressures. They are adapted to an arid, inhospitable environment, yet they increasingly come into contact with people whose livelihoods depend on goats, cattle and sheep. Conflict often arises when a lion is injured, hungry or habituated to livestock, and a single incident can quickly damage relations between a pride and the community living alongside it. By identifying and monitoring individual prides, the association can respond early and reduce the chance of retaliatory killings.
Field records on this page were compiled in September 2018 and are revised from time to time as conditions and sightings change. Each entry brings together the animals that made a pride known, the terrain they range across, and any conservation or community work connected with them. Together this knowledge forms part of a wider effort to preserve desert lions in Namibia, educate farming communities, and find a permanent, cooperative solution to human-lion conflict rather than relying on short-term measures alone.
Individuals
Lions remembered
DeLHRA has followed individual desert lions over many seasons. These are some of the animals whose histories are documented on the site.
“Nkosi” and the 2018 translocation
In July 2018 three adult Ugab pride lions — Nkosi, Missy and Cheeky — were translocated by the MET. Nkosi died during the translocation, and two of Missy’s cubs died en route or shortly after.
“Gretzky” and “Cheeky”
Cheeky (xpl 111) and her three cubs are recorded in 2016, and the mating pair Gretzky (xpl 99) and Cheeky were photographed together in 2015. A cub of the Ugab pride sired by the late Gretzky was also recorded.
“Minki” of the Opdraand farm
The lioness Minki (xpl 127) died in human-lion conflict in 2021 at Opdraand farm — one of the losses that keeps the conflict-mitigation work of DeLHRA urgent.
Where conflict is felt
Prides such as these share their range with communal and commercial farms. DeLHRA supports those farmers with practical tools, including shade cloth for enclosures and motion-detecting lights with integrated sirens.
The current Ugab trio
The Ugab pride is recorded in its current form in the pride listing. Prides are monitored by DeLHRA to track the well-being of desert-adapted lions across the Kunene.
Support the desert lions
DeLHRA is a voluntary non-profit organisation founded in 2017. Sponsors and donors fund the tools, materials and field work that help farming communities protect their livestock and keep lions in the landscape.