Conservationists to send 7 lions to Rwanda 15 years after its lion population was wiped out

ST. LUCIA, South Africa – A group that runs wildlife parks in Africa plans to move seven lions from South Africa to Rwanda, where conservationists say the lion population was wiped out 15 years ago.

African Parks, based in South Africa, says it will transfer the lions to Akagera National Park this week. The trip to the east-central African country by truck and plane will take more than 24 hours. The group, which manages Akagera, says cattle herders poisoned the Rwandan park's last lions after it was left unmanaged following Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

Starting Monday, the lions will be moved from two parks in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.

This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature again listed the lion as vulnerable in an update of its "red list" of species facing survival threats.