Kenya Lions Killed With Spears By Mob Outside Nairobi

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The Kenya Wildlife Service says residents on the outskirts of Nairobi speared to death six lions after the carnivores killed four goats from their herd.


KWS said Wednesday that two adult lionesses, two younger lions and two cubs were killed overnight by a mob wielding spears.


KWS said the killings are a big loss to Kenya's economy, given the number of tourists who travel to Kenya to see big game. The lions had strayed outside of Nairobi National Park in search of food when they killed the goats.


Kenya has been losing 100 lions a year for the last seven years, leaving the country with 2,000 of the big cats. Killing lions in Kenya is a crime, but Kenyans who lose livestock to lions frequently retaliate by killing lions.

Goats have a value in Kenya...Lions have no value to the residents...I wonder where PETA is on this subject.

It's all about $$$$ the locals $$ is in their goats. It is a sad thing and something has to change. All of us conservation folks understand this. It's the peta folks who don't understand the conservation side or the farmers side. They just see the poor animal.

Originally Posted by RickB

It's all about $$$$ the locals $$ is in their goats. It is a sad thing and something has to change. All of us conservation folks understand this. It's the peta folks who don't understand the conservation side or the farmers side. They just see the poor animal.

Oddly enough, humans have been protecting livestock from predators since the the beginning of time (It' even in the Bible, about hearders killing Wolves and such)...
Your right RickB, the antis and PETA will only see the poor animals, they would probably just yell at the Loins to leave the goat's alone and stop eating meat, or set up a protest in front of the goat's. If they protest the Kenyans then maybe PETA would face the 'mob' African style. Either side they would be wet red spot's in the dirt.

Originally Posted by James.Grage

............
[B]KWS said the killings are a big loss to Kenya's economy, given the number of tourists who travel to Kenya to see big game. The lions had strayed outside of Nairobi National Park in search of food when they killed the goats.
........

After banning of hunting in Kenya those lions should have lots to eat inside the park, shouldn't they?

Does make me wonder why the lions are off eating goats if this game management model is so good?

bRICKBURN

Poaching IS VERY rampant in Kenya.

The only place you will see wildlife is in the parks. anything close to the boundaries are up for grabs.

The park rangers have to herd the elephants back into the parks...

Originally Posted by BRICKBURN

After banning of hunting in Kenya those lions should have lots to eat inside the park, shouldn't they?

Does make me wonder why the lions are off eating goats if this game management model is so good?

Poaching is rampant, I have no doubt.

Small islands in a sea of humanity. Always going to be conflict until someone is not so hungry.

If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times to those tree huggers and bunny lovers I run across every day

It s not about hunting or preservation or conservation or whatever term you wish to use to justify their (PETA - types)

Its like Carville said a few election cycles back....."its the economy stupid!"

So I have all these lions dead as retaliation for what ... a few goats?

And Kenya is loosing a 100 lions a year

Crap this isn't about the conservationists vs. the hunters this is nothing more than a rudimentary math lesson


I'll go out on a limb and say all things considered a lion is worth 20 grand in the hunting business

100 x 20,000 = 2,000,000

So, ever wonder just how many goats you need to raise to gross 2 mil ?

Here's a clue....Kenya ain't that big!

When you attach VALUE to an animal you get more of them

When a lion isn't worth anything to the locals you hack them to pieces with no financial consequence

As God as my witness I do not understand the logic train that prevents this concept from taking hold with some governments

If I could get $5,000 for a whitetail buck and $1,100 for a finished steer there I had to feed, medicate and care for both him and his mother and the carrying capacity is roughly the same ....which way do you think I am going to go with the business plan?

People wail on about poverty in Africa and the reality is the end product of poor decisions is exactly that .... poverty!

An example closer to home (for me) here in New Braunfels we are blessed with two scenic and beautiful rivers, this town swells from 50,000 to 250,000 every summer weekend. People come to tube the rivers, eat in the restaurants, stay in the hotels and buy beer, lots and lots of beer, at the grocery. Now, we didn't put those rivers here but we shepherd them and care for them and fleece the tourists to no end. We enjoy the trade and commerce and our taxes are the lowest in Texas, these rivers are a natural resource not unlike the wildlife in Kenya or Botswana.

If we didnt have the rivers this town couldnt support a truck stop!

The point is that Kenya and now Botswana have a natural resource that they choose to squander in the name of I don't know!

and to the detriment of their people

If someone here said "you can come look at the rivers but you can't raft, tube or canoe them, take all the pictures you want but don't get wet . . . . how long would the present economy continue to exist?

It just seems dopey to me

Originally Posted by Second Wind

If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times to those tree huggers and bunny lovers I run across every day

It s not about hunting or preservation or conservation or whatever term you wish to use to justify their (PETA - types)

Its like Carville said a few election cycles back....."its the economy stupid!"

So I have all these lions dead as retaliation for what ... a few goats?

And Kenya is loosing a 100 lions a year

Crap this isn't about the conservationists vs. the hunters this is nothing more than a rudimentary math lesson


I'll go out on a limb and say all things considered a lion is worth 20 grand in the hunting business

100 x 20,000 = 2,000,000

So, ever wonder just how many goats you need to raise to gross 2 mil ?

Here's a clue....Kenya ain't that big!

When you attach VALUE to an animal you get more of them

When a lion isn't worth anything to the locals you hack them to pieces with no financial consequence

As God as my witness I do not understand the logic train that prevents this concept from taking hold with some governments

If I could get $5,000 for a whitetail buck and $1,100 for a finished steer there I had to feed, medicate and care for both him and his mother and the carrying capacity is roughly the same ....which way do you think I am going to go with the business plan?

People wail on about poverty in Africa and the reality is the end product of poor decisions is exactly that .... poverty!

An example closer to home (for me) here in New Braunfels we are blessed with two scenic and beautiful rivers, this town swells from 50,000 to 250,000 every summer weekend. People come to tube the rivers, eat in the restaurants, stay in the hotels and buy beer, lots and lots of beer, at the grocery. Now, we didn't put those rivers here but we shepherd them and care for them and fleece the tourists to no end. We enjoy the trade and commerce and our taxes are the lowest in Texas, these rivers are a natural resource not unlike the wildlife in Kenya or Botswana.

If we didnt have the rivers this town couldnt support a truck stop!

The point is that Kenya and now Botswana have a natural resource that they choose to squander in the name of I don't know!

and to the detriment of their people

If someone here said "you can come look at the rivers but you can't raft, tube or canoe them, take all the pictures you want but don't get wet . . . . how long would the present economy continue to exist?

It just seems dopey to me

Logic has no place in an emotional argument, only tears and warm fuzzies.

Side Note SW: I think I pretty much figured that my then girlfriend would be my wife while floating down one of those rivers in New Braunfels. Very pretty place to call home.

re Side note

Phil, that is way cool....you and your lady ....give the the coordinates, I have a little free time right now, so I will go erect a memorial

the plaque will read ..... on a given holiday in _____ Mr. Phil rode the river, consumed 32 gallons of beer , got terribly sun burnt and fell in love . . . . sound about right? lol!!!

Phil

One more little thing you might not know about New Braunfels

We have

1. one of the best African taxidermy studios around

2. one of the best African outfitters

3. and without a doubt, right down the road two of the very best travel agencies specializing in African and European hunting trips

4. 30 minutes from 2 international airports

Go figure, in a town of 50,000

come retirement, might want to give it some thought

Kenya: Six Lions Killed in Kenyan Capital's Urban Jungle

20 June 2012

The police and Kenya Wildlife Service officers have launched a manhunt for suspects believed to have killed six lions Wednesday morning in ... ( Resource: Kenya: Maasai Herdsmen Kill Six Lions

Nairobi Two lions and four cubs have been killed by angry residents on the outskirt of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, after they invaded a homestead killing a dozen of livestock.
The incident occurred early Wednesday morning in Oloika area in Kitengela according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). KWS Corporate Communication Manager Paul Udoto said they were investigating the incident.

"I urge Kenyans to desist from killing straying wild animals and instead report the matter to us as these animals are part of our national heritage," he said. Incidences of stray wildlife being sighted near homes has been on the rise especially in areas neighbouring the Nairobi National Park.

On Monday, Dagoretti Corner area residents on a revenge mission killed a leopard that had strayed into the village from Thogoto forest in Kikuyu on the outer edge of Nairobi where it had killed a goat.

"We cannot continue to act like this as there are policies in place to protect human beings from wildlife and the solution is not to kill wild animals," said Udoto.

You can also read it below;
When Danish author Karen Blixen penned her autobiography "Out of Africa", she wrote of the fierce leopards and lions that prowled the coffee estate she farmed at the foot of Kenya's Ngong hills.


Today, that farm is a leafy upmarket suburb of the rapidly growing capital Nairobi, swallowed up by breakneck urbanisation that has turned a century-old colonial railway yard into a traffic-clogged major city.

But the sharp toothed big cats have remained, finding themselves under growing pressure as one of Africa's fastest growing cities creeps onto ancient migration routes and hunting grounds.

"There have been no attacks on humans - only dogs - but as the encroachment increases the probability of attacks grows," said Francis Gakuya, chief vet for KWS, as captured lion cubs growled in the background.

Pacing in a cage at the KWS headquarters in Nairobi, four orphaned cubs hiss and snarl at vets taking care of them - then give a surprisingly powerful roar for a two-month-old baby already the size of a small dog.

Wildlife rangers were forced to shoot dead the cubs' mother after it was spotted in Nairobi's Karen suburb and it charged before it could be darted. The cubs are now being looked after. But it is not the only recent case. Conservationists warn of the growing likelihood of closer interaction between wildlife and humans if development is not managed in a sustainable manner.

Another lioness captured last month later escaped back into the park, a 117 square kilometre (45 square mile) wilderness where buffalo and rhino roam just seven kilometres (four miles) from the bustling high-rise city centre.

Wildlife officials have issued warnings to residents near the park to call them "should they see another lion in their area as it is possible more than one lion had strayed from the park."

Traps are set out when a big cat is reported but the wily lions have so far avoided the baited cages - sparking concern in residents, fearful at night when guard dogs howl that a lion could be hunting in the back yard.

"Lions can hide invisible in the long grass so it's frightening they could be around waiting to pounce," said Mary Okello, who lives close to where recent lions were caught.
Visit the park and one is rewarded by the bizarre sight of long-necked giraffes running through wide plains of yellow grass with the gleaming skyscrapers of Nairobi's business district rising in the distance.

'The lion loses out'
Although fenced in on the city side - some bars even have terraces where one can view animals over a cold drink - the park is open-sided elsewhere else to allow the annual wildlife migration in search of grazing.

Zebra and wildebeest in the park migrate from the protected Nairobi national park through informal wildlife corridors, areas where pastoralist herders graze their cattle. But Kenya's population is quickly growing.

The land is under threat from increasing urbanisation and more intensive agriculture, and the routes used by migrating herds in search of fresh grass - and the carnivores that follow for fresh meat - are growing narrower.

"Some can't find their way through, and they get stranded," said Nicholas Oguge, President of the Ecological Society for Eastern Africa.

"There is an urgent need for an effective land policy...without establishing formal wildlife corridors, Nairobi National Park will become like an island, a large contained zoo," added Oguge, a professor at the University of Nairobi.

The situation has changed dramatically in recent decades. In the 1970s residents used to report roaming herds of wildebeest several hundred thousand strong. Today, in comparison, there are just a relative handful of wildebeest left.

Conservationists say wildlife protection is a low priority for city officials struggling with multiple challenges in a grossly unequal capital of some 3.5 million people with overstretched basic services and infrastructure.

In Nairobi, lavish villas rub shoulders with squalid slums and cramped high rise apartments.

"Nairobi National Park is a microcosm of what is happening elsewhere," said Luke Hunter, president of the wild cat conservation group Panthera, noting that lions have lost over 80 percent of their historic lands across Africa.

"In protected areas lions do well... but outside they are getting hammered."
Kenyan wildlife officials and other conservation groups are working to support the establishment of a wildlife corridor, including mapping the key routes, but it is no easy matter, said Paul Mbugua, KWS assistant director.

"It would be good to have corridors in place, but we have a challenge as all the land to the south of Nairobi is owned by somebody," Mbugua said.

Land in Kenya is both increasingly expensive and a highly political issue.
Kenya plunged into violence after disputed 2007 elections, with land grievances a key contributing factor to the explosion of brutal killings, and demarcating protected corridors is harder than simply drawing lines on a map.

Lion attacks on livestock are reported, but there have been no recent attacks on humans in Nairobi, experts say, but contact will grow as the city expands.

"Lions respect and fear people and try to get out of the way," added Hunter.
"But with development in areas important to lions, people and lions will mix more and more... and an individual lion can be incredibly dangerous. In that mix, inevitably it is the lion that loses out."

Lions speared: Kenya's human-animal conflicts grow


Published June 21, 2012

Associated Press




ILKEEK-LEMEDUNG'I, Kenya Crouching at dawn in the savannah's tall grass, the lions tore through the flesh of eight goats. Dogs barked, women screamed and men with the rank of warrior in this village of Maasai tribesman gathered their spears.

Kenya Wildlife Service rangers responded to the attack, but arrived without a veterinarian and no way to tranquilize the eight lions and remove them from Ilkeek-Lemedung'I, a settlement of mud and stone homes not far from the edges of Nairobi National Park.

In the end, the Maasai men who come from a tribe renowned for its hunting skills grew tired of waiting, said Charity Kingangir, whose father's goats were attacked Wednesday. The men speared the lions, killing six: two adult lionesses, two younger lions and two cubs.

The lions had killed eight goats, each worth about $60.

Wednesday's killings highlight the growing threat to Kenya's wildlife posed by the rapid expansion of its capital. A week earlier, residents from another village on Nairobi's outskirts killed a leopard that had eaten a goat. Last month, wildlife service agents shot and killed a lion moving around the Nairobi suburb of Karen. On Thursday, three lions attacked and killed three goats outside Nairobi National Park. Rangers chased the lions back to the park.

Earlier this week, the Kenya Wildlife Service sent out a public notice pleading with people who encounter wild animals "to desist from killing them."

It summed up the problem in a posting on its Facebook page: "Do animals invade human space, or do humans invade animal space? How can we find tolerance for our wild neighbors? And how can we humanely remove them when they get a bit too close?"

As Nairobi enjoys a boom in apartment and road construction, an expanding population center is putting heavy pressure on the animals, especially big cats. Nairobi National Park is the only wildlife park in the world that lies in a country's capital.

Killing lions is a crime in Kenya, but those who lose livestock to big cats frequently retaliate. About 100 lions are killed each year, and the country's lion population has dropped to about 2,000. Lions, especially ones who leave Nairobi National Park, which is not completely fenced in, are at risk. After Wednesday's killings, the park had 37 left, KWS estimates.

As Nairobi continues to grow, small towns that cropped up on its outskirts expand, fueled by the demand for low-cost housing from the city's working class.

People are settling in traditional migratory corridors that wildlife from Nairobi's park have long used to access the plains to the south around Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, or to travel to Kenya's Maasai Mara in the country's southwest, said Peter M. Ngau, a professor in the department of urban and regional planning at the University of Nairobi.

The herbivores migrate from the park in search of pasture during the dry season and the carnivores follow, KWS official Ann Kahihia said.

"Unfortunately the carnivores do not know the difference between livestock and wild animals. Once they get livestock they just kill them," Kahihia said.

KWS Director Julius Kipngetich says the human population in the Kitengela area, where the six lions were killed, was low in the 1990s but has grown dramatically since the opening of an export processing zone there.

Even the annual migration of the wildebeests from Nairobi National Park to the Athi plains to Nairobi's east has been squeezed by human settlement, he said.

If parliament approves, the Kenyan government will start compensating people whose livestock are maimed or killed as an incentive to spare the attacking animals. KWS spokesman Paul Udoto said the government stopped compensation for wildlife attacks in 1987 after the program was abused.

Kipngetich said other ways of avoiding human-wildlife conflict is to fence parks and compensate at market rates people whose land can be used for conservation purposes.

Jackson Sikeet, who was present during Wednesday's killing of the lions, said the government should compensate the Maasai for the loss of the goats.

"Otherwise if they don't, this problem is going to continue every other time," he said.

Originally Posted by Second Wind

re Side note

Phil, that is way cool....you and your lady ....give the the coordinates, I have a little free time right now, so I will go erect a memorial

the plaque will read ..... on a given holiday in _____ Mr. Phil rode the river, consumed 32 gallons of beer , got terribly sun burnt and fell in love . . . . sound about right? lol!!!

Drop the part about the beer and that'd about do it. Coordinates? I'm not sure I even remember the river name, Guadalupe maybe? It is a very nice place, uniquely Texas and very pretty part of the hill country. We were part of a larger group from Arlington. We stayed at the parents of one of the girls in the group. Their house was in a neighborhood up on a hill in San Marcos. Whitetail deer were running through the neighborhood and greeted us in the morning out the picture window looking into the back yard.