Above:
We are devastated to share that the Hippo Creek female
– the dominant female and pride of Zambezi National Park – was
killed in a targeted poaching incident
Photo: Suzanne Elliot Smith
A Tribute to the Hippo Creek female
and Securing a Future for Lions
I can still remember the first time I saw the Hippo Creek pride back in 2018 – there were seven lions then. Then they dwindled to just one: the Hippo Creek female. This is a tribute to her journey.
Fifteen years ago, lions were rarely seen in Zambezi National Park. Thanks to efforts from ZimParks, conservationists, and the tourism sector, prey populations rebounded, and over time the lions became less wary of vehicles, offering unforgettable sightings to visitors from all over the world and significantly helping our local tourism industry. If you’ve been on safari in Zambezi National Park with any of our wonderful guides, I hope you’ve had the privilege of spending time with these magnificent creatures.
In 2022, I collared the Hippo Creek female. She had four cubs (about 18-months old), and we placed a satellite collar on her as her territory was very close to the growing urban area of Victoria Falls. Subsequently, during the rainy season, she did venture into the town, hunting wildlife on the golf course and in some of the wildlife corridor areas. Her collar allowed our Human-Wildlife Conflict teams to warn residents and to safely manage each situation. Despite these urban forays, she and her pride became well-known, charismatic figures among tour operators and locals. They were relaxed around vehicles and people and our treasured sightings of them have made deep impact on many of us.
Above: Hippo Creek Female
Photo: Suzanne Elliot Smith
Above: Hippo Creek Female with her cubs
Photo: Shelley Cox
By late 2023, I knew her two male cubs were nearing dispersal age. With the impending rainy season we needed to monitor their movements and mitigate conflict risks, so we collared one. Soon after, he and his brother began moving between the park, adjacent safari areas, as well as nearby communities. Each time they neared human settlements, our early warning system alerted our Community Guardians, who successfully pushed them back into safe zones.
Then tragedy struck.
Last week, I noticed the dominant male accompanying the Hippo Creek pride had left the park. Concerned that he may be a danger to people (he was still in a game corridor), I tracked his signal and found him hanging by the neck in a wire snare. We darted him and removed the snare, which had torn through his mouth. Nearby, in the same snare, we found another snared female – her head and paws taken. Cub tracks circled the scene. Using DNA analysis, our lab has now confirmed the worst: the Hippo Creek female was gone. Her collar had stopped transmitting two weeks earlier and was, and is still missing.
This wasn’t an isolated incident.
In December 2024, I received a troubling alert from another lion collar. This lioness’s collar signaled prolonged inactivity near the Botswana-Zambia border, then a sudden transmission from Zambia. I feared the worst. She had two 18-month-old cubs and had recently lost one through natural causes – likely to another carnivore or with a buffalo incident. The other two cubs were old enough to be left alone but not old enough to successfully hunt on their own. With help from investigators, we immediately went to try and see what has happened. After a difficult search, we eventually reached the site by boat. She had been snared, her remains taken, and her cubs were nowhere to be found.
A day after we found the Hippo Creek female’s remains, we located one of her previous male offspring – he had been killed by a buffalo. On a positive note, we found his brother, quite far away, hiding out from a big male lion that he was trying to avoid.
In just four months, we’ve lost two female lions butchered for body parts, three young lions, and an adult male struggling to recover from a snaring injury. Their cubs, if still alive, will likely not survive. In November 2024, our colleagues in Hwange faced a similar poaching incident.
We Need Your Help
VFWT has been dedicated to lion conservation in this area for 13 years, but poaching and the illegal wildlife trade are escalating. Prides are being disrupted, cubs are being lost, and males are shifting territories, leading to further instability. The Hippo Creek pride now rests in the hands of two young females – just four years old – who live dangerously close to Victoria Falls.
We’ve launched an urgent appeal to support our work. Your donation can make a tangible difference:
- $3,500 funds a satellite collar, a fitting, and tracking time for one lion
- $1,500 provides telemetry equipment for our field teams
- $250 covers immobilization drug costs for most species
- $100 contributes towards fuel for our teams on the ground
Every contribution helps us protect the remaining lions and continue the legacy of the Hippo Creek pride.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Roger Parry
Wildlife Manager
