10/08/2026
A Second Chance in the Papyrus Swamps
Some conservation decisions follow the textbook. This one didn't.
In 2022, two lionesses from Kafue's Busanga Plains were killed in a poacher’s snares, leaving behind eight cubs estimated to be between six and eight months old — far too young to survive on their own.
Faced with an exceptional situation, Kafue National Park management chose to intervene, supported by carnivore monitoring partners. The cubs were gradually introduced to an unrelated adult lioness, in the hope she could provide some of what they had lost: guidance, social structure and the behavioral skills normally learned from a mother.
The cubs' journey was far from straightforward. Once released, the bonded female left the group and was later seen with another unrelated young male — a reminder that pairing orphaned cubs with an unrelated adult doesn't always go to plan. Even so, the young lions seemed to grasp the essentials of survival and were seen hunting smaller prey on their own in the following months
Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP), our carnivore monitoring and research partner across much of the park, has shown through its long-term research that dispersing young males face particularly high risks. As they move through unfamiliar territory, they encounter established prides, competing males and other threats. We all remained hopeful that at least some of these animals would reach adulthood.
Reports of a sub-adult lioness in a remote part of the ecosystem prompted a search by ZCP. She turned out to be one of the original orphaned cubs — extremely skittish and very difficult to approach. The team decided to collar her to monitor her movements, but needed to act fast as the wet season was closing in, and access to the area would soon become extremely limited as Kafue's black cotton soils turned impassable.
With ground access about to close, the team opted for a helicopter-based operation. ZCP veterinarian Dr. Michelo Mungolo successfully darted the lioness — named Pulumuka — and fitted her with a new GPS collar, enabling her movements to be tracked through the wet season via satellite and EarthRanger.
Earlier this year, data from that collar began to show a change in behavior. Cluster patterns caught the attention of ZCP researchers, whose long-term monitoring experience allowed them to identify signs consistent with denning and cub-rearing. They alerted us to the possibility that Pulumuka had cubs.
With the area inaccessible by vehicle at the height of the wet season, an aerial search was undertaken. No cubs were seen, though the data remained encouraging. More recently, during a routine ground based collar check, ZCP confirmed it: Pulumuka is raising at least one male cub.
The significance of this finding lies not only in Pulumuka's survival, but in the long-term monitoring that made it possible to document it at all. Across a landscape the size of Kafue, many wildlife stories unfold unseen.
Most conservation landscapes are managed on a process-based system: wildlife populations are shaped by natural processes, and intervention is rarely necessary.
This case was different.
These cubs were not orphaned by drought, disease or predation. They were orphaned by poacher’s snares. Without intervention, the rescued cubs would have died.
Not every lion may have survived, but Pulumuka's own cub is proof that at least part of this lineage endures.
As lion populations across Africa continue to face pressure, stories like this highlight the value of clear strategies, long-term monitoring, sound science and informed conservation management.
With thanks to the Zambian Carnivore Programme and Department of National Parks & Wildlife for their long-term partnership in the Greater Kafue Landscape.
📷Samantha Lostrom
