•The Nairobi National Park has partial electric fencing.
•It is not entirely sealed off to allow for the traditional migration of animals.
Image: COURTESY
A lion that wandered outside the Nairobi National Park has been captured, KWS has said.
The big cat was found stuck in a corridor in Ongata Rongai near Tuskys.
KWS officers and police have camped at the area and chased a crowd that tried to catch a glimpse of the lion.
A source with the Kenya Wildlife Service told the Star on Wednesday, “KWS rangers have captured it and returned it to the park,"
It was not immediately clear when the big cat escaped from the 117 square kilometre park.
This is not the first time the big cat escaped from the park.
In 2016, a lion wandered out before returning unharmed.
KWS said the cat that had been spotted in Karen.
“It came back to the park near Multimedia University College and a report was made at 10 o’clock,” said Paul Gathitu, the then KWS head of corporate communications.
In 2019, another lion escaped from the park before killing a herdsman at the park.
Eighteen-year-old Weldon Kirui was mauled as his seven colleagues watched, scared.
Then Nairobi police Chief Japheth Koome said the eight men were herding animals in the park when they were attacked by two lions.
“The herders were illegally in the park when the attack occurred and most of the man’s body was eaten by the lions,” Koome said.
The Nairobi National Park has partial electric fencing. It is not entirely sealed off to allow for the traditional migration of animals.
It is the only park in the world in the vicinity of a city and is the home of among others lions, leopards, rhinos, gazelles and buffalos.
The animals roam the park against the backdrop of distant skyscrapers.
The escape of the big cats comes at a time KWS top management is planning to give the park a face lift.
The top 12 issues that face the park include habitat loss and fragmentation in the dispersal areas, decline in wildlife population, poaching, human-wildlife conflicts, alien and invasive species, pollution, mining and quarries.
Others are climate change, low park visitation, increased urbanisation, settlement threats on the sheep and goats ranch, and infrastructure development.
KWS says a lot of work is lined up for the park. This includes fencing, a high-end ecolodge, improvement of infrastructure, development of KWS Club House high-end restaurant (Orpul Place), designing and establishment of adventure activity concessions and facilitation of alternative activities to traditional game-viewing.
Edited by CM