Global Courant 2023-05-14 20:07:52
Six lions were killed on Saturday May 13 in a southern Kenyan national park after they killed 11 goats and a dog in a human-wildlife conflict, the Kenya Wildlife Conservation Service confirmed ( KWS).
“The ongoing conflict resulted in the death of six lions early today. The lions killed eleven goats and a dog last night,” the KWS declared in a statement sent to EFE late yesterday.
“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, as four more lions have been killed in the last week, bringing the total to 10 lions killed in the Amboseli (national park) ecosystem,” he added.
The Kenyan conservation service reported that a meeting was held on Saturday with the local community and National Government administration officials in South Kajiado sub-county to discuss recent incidents of human-wildlife conflict in the area and seek solutions for a peaceful coexistence.
Among the lions killed was the oldest lion in the wild in Africa, 19 years old and baptized as Loonkito, who died at the hands of some shepherds last Wednesday after the animal entered a community to attack domestic livestock, reported the Conservation NGO Big Life Foundation.
There are currently some 30,000 lions left in Africa, and their populations continue to decline, according to the latest data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Between 1993 and 2014, lion populations fell by 43%, mainly due to the loss of their habitats and conflicts between these animals and human communities, which sometimes poison or attack cats to protect their cattle.
Lions came close to extinction in southern Kenya at the turn of this century, but the efforts of local communities, rangers and conservation NGOs meant that lion populations in Amboseli National Park and surrounding wildlife reserves of lions multiplied by six between 2004 and 2020.
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To avoid conflicts between lions and humans, special corrals have been built to protect Maasai cows from lion attacks, financial compensation is given to shepherds who have lost their cattle because of these cats, and involvement has been communities in tourism sector activities to improve their economies. EFE
