• Kenya has about 2,489 lions but with increasing threats, conservationists are worried that they could be wiped out.
• Lions face several threats, including human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss and conversions, infrastructure development, climate change and conflicting priorities.
Image: COURTESY
Kenya will today join the rest of the World in commemorating World Lion Day even as threats facing the big cats' increases.
The day seeks to raise awareness on the emerging threats facing the majestic big cat. Lions face several threats, including human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss and conversions, infrastructure development, climate change and conflicting priorities.
Just over a century ago, there were more than 200,000 wild lions living in Africa. Today, there are only about 20,000. Lions are extinct in 26 African countries and have vanished from more than 95 per cent of their historic range.
Kenya currently has a population of about 2,489 lions, compared to the 2018 estimate of 1,970.
To help reverse some of the threats, the Ministry of Tourism has launched a recovery plan to sustain a viable population of lions and spotted hyenas in healthy ecosystems.
According to the plan, the breeding lion population range in the country is 86,940km2. It shows that 41 per cent of lion range falls within Kenya’s national parks and reserves.
Some 40.8 per cent are in conservancies, while 18 per cent are outside the protected areas or conservancies. The plan, which will run for 10 years to 2030, was launched at Mara Game Reserve by Tourism CS Najib Balala on Thursday.
Balala said lions and hyenas play an important role in the food chain by controlling herbivore populations, which, if not regulated, would cause an increase in competition amongst them and make some go extinct, thus reducing biodiversity.
“If lions and hyenas did not exist, there would be a symbiotic relationship between parasites and herd animals. This way, parasites could increase and spread throughout the herd, resulting in fewer healthy animals,” he said.
The CS noted that lions and hyenas prey on the weakest of the herd, which keeps the population of herd animals resilient and healthy.
Before the launch of the document, Balala participated in collaring a lioness at the Masai Mara Game Reserve to track it and reduce human-lion conflicts.
Narok Governor Samuel Tunai, Tourism CAS Joseph Boinnet, EAC Principal Secretary Kevit Desai, KWS director general John Waweru and vice chairman Betty Maitoyo, among other conservationists, were present.
Balala said the plan was developed in accordance with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Convention for International Trade of Endangered Species and Convention of Migratory Species guidelines.
He said the process was participatory, transparent and informed by the best available science. The vision of the recovery plan is to sustain viable populations of lions and spotted hyenas in healthy ecosystems as world heritage valued by the people of Kenya.
Its goal is to restore and maintain viable populations of lions and spotted hyenas and their wild prey while minimising conflict and maximising value to local communities.
Balala urged Kenyans who come into conflicts with lions and hyenas not to take the law into their own hands by poisoning them. Instead, they should report livestock predation to the authorities for processing of compensation.
Balala said there will be no more construction of new camps in all protected areas, be it a national park or a game reserve, without prior direct permission by the ministry. He called on all stakeholders in the game reserve to come up with a Masai Mara management plan by August 31 to manage the rich natural heritage properly.
Wildlife PS Fred Segor said the role of the two predators in the ecosystem was crucial. “Their continued survival is important to the health of other wildlife species.”
He noted that hyenas play an important role as ‘professional garbage collectors’, thereby helping to clean the environment for the safety of other wildlife species and humans.