Six lions were speared to death on Mbirikani Ranch, in the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem of southern Kenya, on Saturday, May 13 in a new human-wildlife conflict.
The incident unfolded after a group of nine subadult lions broke into a livestock enclosure near Mbirikani town overnight, killing 12 goats and a dog.
community wildlife rangers responded immediately, pushing the lions away from the homestead, but they moved into Big Life Foundation’s fenced headquarters nearby.
Big Life Foundation staff were able to push three of the lions out of the premises during the night and they moved away from the town, but the other six remained inside.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) arrived on the scene in the morning and the preliminary decision was made to leave the lions inside the compound until the following night when they could leave safely, while a vet was mobilized from Tsavo Conservation Area to assess the potential for translocation, officials said.
Police were also on the scene to ensure human safety throughout the day.
However, a crowd continued to build and tensions spilled over when a group of 60-80 people broke through the compound fence, going on to spear all six lions.
Many of the crowd were armed with spears, and any intervention by KWS, the police, or Big Life Foundation would have risked escalation of an extremely volatile situation, and likely human injury or death.
“Big Life Foundation is committed to the wellbeing of humans and animals in the Amboseli ecosystem, and such incidents are a setback to our efforts aimed at facilitating co-existence between humans and wildlife,” said the organization.
The number of lions killed by humans on Mbirikani Ranch has dropped 97 percent since Big Life Foundation started a livestock compensation program (known as the Predator Compensation Fund) in 2003.
In the one-and-a half-years, before it launched, at least 31 lions were killed in Mbirikani.
In the 20 years since, until Saturday’s incident, only 13 have been killed, as a result of the Predator Compensation Fund and complementary conservation initiatives.
Owing to the likelihood that this incident may be referred to the police and Kenya Wildlife Service for further investigation, Big Life Foundation is unable to comment further at this time.
Saturday, KWS Board of Trustees Chairman, Lt Gen (Rtd) Walter Raria Koipaton, and Acting Director General, Dr. Erustus Kanga held a meeting with the local community and National Government administration officers in Kajiado South Sub County to address recent incidences of Human-Wildlife Conflict in the area.
The KWS officials discoursed ways to address the current conflict which resulted in the killing of six lions.
“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident as over the last week, four other lions have been killed resulting to a total of ten lions killed in the Amboseli ecosystem,” KWS said.
The KWS officials engaged the community in an effort to find lasting solutions that will address the conflict while protecting both human lives and wildlife.
The discussions centered on exploring ways to minimize the risk of human-wildlife conflict, including developing early warning systems to alert communities of the presence of wildlife in their vicinity.
The discussions further centered on the wider scope of exploring human-wildlife conflict in the context of community livelihoods and benefit sharing towards a harmonious coexistence in the open community and wildlife landscapes.
They emphasized the importance of balancing the needs of the local communities with the need to protect wildlife.
They urged the community to report any incidents of human-wildlife conflict to KWS and assured them that they will work together to find lasting solutions to the conflicts.
“KWS is dedicated to safeguarding Kenya’s wildlife and ensuring that wildlife continues to be an integral part of Kenya’s heritage.”