The return of the water - IUCN

(Bauer, 1995) and 30-60 lions -with a mean of 50 - in the 1990s (De Iongh et al., 2002;Bauer, 2003).
These figures provide an indication of the order of magnitude of the absolute number of lions. They
cannot be used, however, to do a meaningful analysis of the trends in lion numbers.
In 1998 five lions in the Waza National Park were fitted with VHF radio collars to determine the
home range size and the seasonal use of their territories. The home ranges of these tagged lions
remained stable. The movements showed a consistent pattern for every individual throughout the
research period. There were certainly differences between individuals: the resident individuals, two
females, had smaller home ranges than the two males who spent at least part of their time outside
the Park. One female spent the dry season inside Waza Park, but left during the wet season, which
increased her home range.
Photo 6.5 Two radio-collared lions mating in Waza National Park. (Photo P. Loth).
The Natural Resources of the Waza Logone Floodplain
Tourism
The number of tourists visiting the Waza National Park was at a minimum in the 1994/95 season
(Table 6.3). This low was clearly related to the economic crisis and insecurity in the area. During
1995/96 to 1996/97 there was a tendency for numbers to increase. According to the chief game
warden the long-term target is 12,000 tourists visiting the park per year, while before the economic
crisis started, an average of 7,000 tourists was visiting the Park. Of the tourists visiting Waza, 15%
are nationals, 25% residents and 60% non-resident visitors. The average length of a visit to the Park
was three days. According to Tchamba (1996b), elephants are the number one attraction for tourists
visiting Waza Park, with lions a close second. Tchamba also indicated that as a result of pilot flood
releases and the re-inundation of the floodplain, elephants would tend to stay longer in the Park.
This could increase the attraction value of elephants for tourists after the full re-inundation.
Year before 1984 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 94/95 95/96 96/97
Number 7000 5600 5400 5700 5600 4500 5000 5400
Table 6.3 Number of tourists visiting Waza National Park (source: Chief Game Warden).
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