From the Brink of Death to New Life

Meet KAR-F001, one of the original 24 Lions placed in Coutada 11, whose incredible story is one the world needs to hear. It is a story of real conservation and the hard truths that come with any large-scale initiative involving animals. It's also proof of what happens when you have an incredible team that cares - monitoring and intervening when necessary - as this most certainly wouldn't have a happy ending without our partners at Zambezi Delta Safaris Anti-Poaching.

The "Snared Lady", as she's now known, was first caught in a poacher's snare in July 2019. The snare had wrapped deep around her waist, and a decision was made to dart her and remove the snare. The wire, which had cut about an inch deep around her entire body, was removed using wire cutters. Fortunately, the wire did not appear to do any major damage, so the wound was cleaned and treated. She was then monitored daily.

Unfortunately, just two months later, she was caught yet again in a poacher's snare -- this time by the back right foot, causing substantial swelling. Once the team noticed she had almost entirely stopped moving, they knew something was wrong, so a plan was made. The team moved in quickly to remove the snare and treat the wound. In the months that followed, they closely monitored movements to watch her recovery. 

Fast forward to present day, and the Snared Lady has amazingly produced four litters of cubs since her last snaring! This is a true conservation success story, as without the monitoring and quick actions taken by the team, none of these litters would've happened. Multiple generations of lions are now growing and expanding across the Zambezi delta because of the work we are doing. To say we are proud of the impact it's had would be putting it lightly.

Our matriarch, Mary Cabela, was extremely passionate about this initiative -- the largest lion translocation in the history of the world. To reintroduce an apex predator, one that had not been in this area of Mozambique for over 150 years, took a lot of time, hard work, and resources, but to see the success over the last five years is no doubt Mary and Dick's legacy living on.

With each cub that takes its first steps on the delta, we are one step closer to our goal of completely balancing and repopulating the area’s natural ecosystem, while adding 2.5 million acres to wild lions’ habitat.

To our supporters and partners, thank you for believing in us as we try to leave an impact on wildlife and ecosystems for generations to come!