Furious herders killed six lions in Kenya's Kajiado South Sub-county after a pride of 11 lions, consisting of 10 adults and a cub, attacked a nearby village, Nashipa, central Kenya.
According to the local media reports, the lions had reportedly strayed from the Amboseli National Park, located in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, in search of food and attacked a homestead, resulting in the death of 11 sheep and a dog. The lions then moved towards the Big Life Foundation's headquarters, near Amboseli Park.
"Community wildlife rangers responded immediately, driving the lions away from the homestead, but they moved into Big Life Foundation’s fenced headquarters nearby," Big Life's Executive Chairman Richard Bonham stated.
One of the local villagers told reporters that attempts to scare the lions away were unsuccessful, as they were aggressive. While preparations were being made to relocate the lions, the villagers launched an attack and killed six of the animals.
Despite the Kenya Wildlife Services reporting that there are only around 100 lions in Amboseli National Park, the killings are not an isolated event. The region has seen many instances of locals killing lions and other wildlife.
According to local media reports, the world's third-oldest lion, Loonkito, was killed by Kenyan herders from the village of Olkelunyiet, which borders Amboseli National Park. The lion had attacked their livestock in search of food.
According to Daniel Campus, a senior coordinator at Big Life Foundation's predator protection program, the killing of the lion is a sign of intense human-wildlife conflict in the Amboseli wildlife corridor, which links three of Kenya’s most well-known national parks: Amboseli, Chyulu and Tsavo West.