Senior Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials on Saturday, May 13, held a meeting with the local community in Kajiado South over rising cases of human-wildlife conflict in the area that has left at least 10 lions dead.
The meeting followed the killing of six lions by angry herders at Imbirikani village in Loitoktok on Saturday.
The lions had killed eleven 11 goats and a dog the previous night.
Maasai morans are said to have traced five lions and a cab within Big Life Foundation conservancy headquarters and killed them.
The angry villagers speared the lions after overpowering KWS and Kenya Police Service officers.
In a statement, KWS said four other lions suffered a similar fate recently, bringing to 10 the number of lions killed in the Amboseli ecosystem within a week.
According to the state corporation, the meeting which was attended by KWS Board of Trustees Chair, Lieutenant General (Rtd) Walter Raria Koipaton, Acting Director General, Dr Erustus Kanga, and National Administration Offices in Kajiado South Sub-county was meant to address the worrying trend.
“During the meeting, the KWS officials discoursed ways to address the current conflict, which resulted in the killing of six (6) lions earlier today. The lions had killed eleven (1 1 ) goats and one dog last night. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident as over the last week, four (4) other lions have been killed resulting to a total of ten (10) lions killed in the Amboseli ecosystem,” KWS said.
The KWS officials engaged the community in an effort to find lasting solutions that will address the conflict while protecting both human lives and wildlife.
“The discussions centred on exploring ways to minimize the risk of human-wildlife conflict, including developing early warning systems to alert communities to the presence of wildlife in their vicinity,” KWS added.
“Further discussions centred on the wider picture of exploring human-wildlife conflict in the context of community livelihoods and benefit sharing towards a harmonious coexistence in the open community and wildlife landscapes.”
The KWS Director General and Board of Trustees Chair emphasized the importance of balancing the needs of the local communities with the need to protect wildlife.
They urged the community to report any incidents of human-wildlife conflict to the KWS, and assured them that they would work together to find lasting solutions to the conflicts.
