President William Ruto warned delegates attending the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi about the city’s roaming lions – albeit on a light note.
Speaking while opening the summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Monday, September 4, 2023, Ruto praised the beauty and uniqueness of Nairobi city.
“Nairobi is a very interesting city, on one side there’s a full canopy forest and on another side, we have a wildlife national park,” he said.
Ruto further shared a light banter about the lions in Nairobi National Park which he said sometimes break out of the enclosure.
He warned delegates attending the inaugural Africa Climate Summit about Nairobi’s roaming lions, cautioning them that they should be wary of the big cats while taking a morning walk.
“We keep the wildlife in the park because we have a fence, but sometimes wildlife break away from the fence. While doing your morning walk you might encounter a lion, please be careful, it is wild,” Ruto said.
Security concerns
Nairobi National Park is located less than eight kilometres from the city’s Central Business District (CBD).
Incidents of wildlife escaping from the park and wandering into populated areas of the city have been reported in the past years.
In July 2021, a lion caused panic after straying from its habitat in Nairobi National Park into a crowded Ongata Rongai neighbourhood.
The Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers were called to intervene as a large crowd had gathered to peer at the animal.
In December 2019, a lion mauled a man to death just outside the park, while in March 2016 another cat was shot dead after attacking and injuring a nearby resident.
Just a month before that, in February 2016, two lions spent a day wandering through Kibera slums before returning to the park, and days later more lions were spotted in town.
The park is ringed by electric fencing in parts but is not entirely sealed off, enabling traditional migration by game in search of grazing.
Endangered wildlife including lions, leopards, rhinos and buffalos graze in the iconic park against a backdrop of distant skyscrapers.
