The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) confirmed Thursday that a two-and-half-year-old male lion called “Lemek” was speared to death after it strayed out of the Nairobi National Park early that day.
KWS spokesman Paul Udoto said patrol rangers discovered Lemek’s speared carcass near Old Kitengela Township, about 20km south of Nairobi.
“The offenders of this act, which is forbidden under the Wildlife and Conservation Management Act, 2013, could not be immediately identified. Investigations are underway to establish the parties responsible,” Udoto said in a statement issued out by KWS.
Udoto said a KWS team working in collaboration with the local administration discovered Lemek’s body under a large thicket beside a dry riverbed.
The wildlife agency had earlier Thursday received a report of two or three lions sighted in the Oleshei area near Old Kitengela Township, which prompted KWS to mobilize aerial search.
Udoto said the search, which was intended to observe and drive the reported lions back to the park, lasted three hours and yielded no results.
“KWS is currently establishing if Lemek was one of the lions reported earlier in the day,” said Udoto, noting that a community meeting will be held next week to explore ways in which KWS can better work with communities living near Nairobi National Park to mitigate human-lion conflict.
This incident came just a day after KWS rangers killed another lion, “Mohawk”, which strayed out of the Nairobi National park to Isinya .
The death of the 13-year-old Mohawk sparked an outcry from Kenyans and African conservationists, who said it heavily dents the lion conservation spirit in the country.
In the space of two months, there have been at least three confirmed cases of lions coming into contact with people in Nairobi and the surrounding areas.
