Lions to be reintroduced to Rwanda after 15-year absence following genocide

Major conservation project will take seven big cats from South Africa to Akagera national park, where lion population died out after 1994 genocide

Seven lions in South Africa are to be tranquillised, placed in steel crates and loaded on to a charter flight to Rwanda on Monday, restoring the predator to the east African country after a 15-year absence.

Cattle herders poisoned Rwanda's last remaining lions after parks were left unmanaged and occupied by displaced people in the wake of the 1994 genocide, according to the conservation group African Parks, which is organising the repopulation drive.