Three lionesses have been found dead in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park after suffering possible electrocution, a wildlife authority official said on Tuesday.
The three lionesses were found near the fence of a private cabin in this popular tourist site.
"Although the cause of the deaths remains to be determined, we suspect that it was electrocution," Bashir Hangi, head of communications at the Uganda Wildlife Authority, told AFP.
A police investigation has been opened and an autopsy will be conducted, he added.
Many poisoned lions
This new incident brings to nine the number of lions found dead in one year in the same national park.
Six other lions, believed to have been poisoned, died in March 2021. In 2018, 11 lions including eight lion cubs died of poisoning, still in Queen Elizabeth Park.
And in May 2010, five other lions were also poisoned.
Investigations into these poisonings have rarely been able to identify the perpetrators and few successful prosecutions.
The Ugandan park is home to more than 600 species of birds and a hundred mammals, including buffaloes, leopards, hyenas and elephants.
There are just over 250 lions, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society's January report.
Tourism in Uganda accounts for almost 10% of GDP, according to official figures.
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