Endangered lion is feared dead, then reappears with a surprise in Senegal, video shows

After years of GPS tracking an endangered lion in Senegal, the wild cat suddenly disappeared. Researchers feared the worst — until trail cameras showed the animal with a few small surprises.

Florence, nicknamed “Flo,” is a 9 to 10-year-old female West African lion living in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park, the wildlife organization Panthera and Senegal’s Department of National Parks said in a Friday, March 3, news release.

The lioness is considered the matriarch of the park and, in 2021, became the first lion in Senegal to be collared with a GPS tracking device, wildlife officials said. Researchers followed Flo’s movements for years.

The wild cat’s tracker stopped in February, leading researchers to fear that she was killed by either poachers or natural predators, the release said. Wildlife officials added more trail cameras to search for the missing matriarch.

Soon after, the lioness reappeared on a trail camera — with three small surprises. Flo had three 3-month-old cubs with her, wildlife officials said.

Videos showed Flo feeding on a downed animal, her young cubs following her lead. The playful cubs were also seen running around and playing, pouncing on each other and their mother. One of the cubs tries to nurse from Flo, who discourages the activity.

After seeing the footage filmed Feb. 6, researchers concluded that Flo’s GPS collar had stopped working while she was “denning” and “holing up… to safely birth her three cubs.”

The video is “a thrilling sign of recovery for the Critically Endangered West African lion,” wildlife officials said.

The lion population at Niokolo-Koba National Park has doubled over the last decade due to conservation efforts. In 2011, there were only about 10 to 15 West African lions at the park. Now, the population has reached 30 lions, due in part to Flo, who researchers believe has had nine cubs in her lifetime.

Wildlife officials estimate only about 120 to 374 West African lions are left in the wild. The species has been driven close to extinction by poaching, illegal hunting of their prey and loss of habitat, the release said.

Niokolo-Koba National Park is located about 350 miles southeast of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and near the Senegal-Guinea border along the northwestern coast of Africa.

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