Predator lights in Laikipia homesteads to keep stray lions at bay

Kenya Wildlife Service has started distributing 300 predator lights to tame the surging cases of human-wildlife conflict in Laikipia.

Speaking in her office on Wednesday, KWS senior warden Rose Malenya said her team will instal the lights in villages where cases of attacks by wild animals have been reported.

“We shall be installing these devices in homesteads so that they can deter wildlife from preying livestock,” Malenya said.

The officer said part of the equipment will be installed in homesteads at Mukima village in Segera location in Laikipia North where some lions have mauled four cows and injured two in the past week.

Malenya appealed to area residents not to kill the big cats but to instead allow KWS officers to control the situation.

“We will tag radio collars on the lions to monitor and determine their location. If that measure fails, we will have to translocate them to the other conservancies,” Malenya said.

Mukima Primary School headteacher Wilfred Nyingi said learning has been disrupted due to the attacks by the animals which are yet to be nabbed.

“The learning programme starts at 7 am but the majority of the learners arrive in class at 9 am while others fail to attend. In the evening, we release them at 3 pm instead of 5pm,” Nyingi said.

“The lion attacks have affected our learning programme yet we need to complete the syllabus.”

On Tuesday, residents were up in arms over the stray lions that have been terrorising and feasting on their livestock.

Edward Kiloku was left with carcasses of his cow after it was mauled by the lions at his homestead before they struck again that night and killed another cow.

On Tuesday at 6.30 am, Kiloku said he went to check his cowshed and found lions feasting on his cow as he watched from a distance.

Peter Muriithi, a resident, said the lions entered their homestead on Wednesday last week at 10 am where they mauled their two cows.

“We do not know the exact number of lions that have been terrorising us because they have been leaving behind huge losses. We are now forced to get to our homes as early as 6 pm,” Muriithi said.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris