Kenya could lose its entire lion population within 20 years, if a declining trend in the number of big cats is not stabilized, the country’s wildlife authority said on Monday.
The national population of lions has been declining in the
last seven years at the rate of 100 animals per year, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said. Their population has
dropped from an estimated 2700 in the year 2002 to a current level of 2000
individuals.
"If the current decline rate continues, there won’t be a
single lion surviving in Kenya in the next 20 years," KWS said in a statement.
A new conservation strategy, which will be launched soon, prescribes
actions that need to be taken by various stakeholders coordinated by
KWS to reverse the declining national population.
Part of the plan involves ongoing trackin gof animals in the southern Amboseli ecosystem to understand their movement patterns and conflicts with humans.
"This trend is disturbing and every effort needs to be made to ensure that Kenya either stabilises its population at the current population of 2000 lions or increases the numbers to an ecologically acceptable level," KWS said.
Lions have a special place in Kenyans’ livelihood and conservation
efforts. Other than being the symbol for national strength, they are a
major attraction for visitors to Kenya.
Kenya Wildlife Service scientists will from August 16-23, 2009 replace two movement tracking devices on two lions in the Amboseli National Park. The Amboseli Lion Project is a joint effort between KWS and the Leiden University of Netherlands.
The two collars were among five GSM devices fitted on lions in 2007 for purposes of monitoring their movements and understanding human-lion conflict in the Amboseli ecosystem.
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