Ten lions found dead in Tanzania

Ten lions have been found dead in a suspected poisoning incident in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) regrets to announce that ten (10) lions were found dead on September 18, 2026, in the Ndutu area,” the authority said in a statement issued yesterday evening.

Authorities said initial findings suggest that the lions died after “ingesting poison,” adding that a specialist investigation is underway “to determine the cause of the incident and identify those responsible,” CE Report quotes ANSA.

The Ngorongoro area has long been the scene of tensions between authorities and the local nomadic community.

The clashes have occasionally turned deadly since the government launched an eviction program in 2022. The Tanzanian government argues that population growth is encroaching on wildlife habitat: the population living in Ngorongoro has increased from around 8,000 in 1959 to more than 100,000.

Since June, at least 20 elephants have died in Kenya’s Amboseli ecosystem, near the Tanzanian border, in suspected pesticide poisoning, although authorities have been unable to determine whether the deaths were accidental or intentional.

Photo: Chat GPT