Lions have not been spotted in Chad's Sena Oura National Park since 2004, but a remote camera has now managed to capture a lioness "in her prime".
The photo — released by the Chad government and the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) — shows a lion that the team of conversationalists describe as "a beautiful lioness, in her prime and clearly in great health".
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lions are technically extinct in Sena Oura, which is a large national park near the border with Cameroon.
WCS reports that the region suffered from a period of ruthless, organised poaching over a decade ago.
Poaching resulted in a large decrease in lion populations with the body parts of the predator being illegally traded on the black market.
In recent years the lion has been benefiting from renewed conservation commitment by the governments of Chad and Cameroon.
"This has produced better protection of the national parks and wildlife populations are now starting to recover," WCS says.
The IUCN has listed the lion as "vulnerable" on its Red List of Threatened Species, which means it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Over the past 21 years the lion population has decreased by approximately 43 per cent.
