Kenya Wildlife Service officers, carrying tranquilliser guns, take part in a search for two lions that left a national park and went into “highly populated” areas in Nairobi on Friday. — AP
Kenya Wildlife Service officers, carrying tranquilliser guns, take part in a search for two lions that left a national park and went into “highly populated” areas in Nairobi on Friday. — AP
Wildlife rangers on Friday hunted for two lions who escaped from Nairobi’s national park and wandered into “highly populated” areas of the Kenyan capital.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) issued an appeal, “for help to get two lionesses that strayed from the Nairobi National Park.”
Armed rangers, as well as KWS vets with dart guns, scoured bush and agricultural land alongside the Kibera district, one of Africa’s largest slums.
“Lions are dangerous wild animals. Avoid provoking the lions by confronting them,” said KWS spokesperson Paul Udoto.
At least two lionesses are reported to have left the park, spread over 117 square kilometres where buffalo and rhino roam just seven kilometres from the bustling high-rise city centre.
Local media reported as many as six lions might be on the loose.
It is not the first time lions have prowled into town. The big cats are under growing pressure as one of Africa’s fastest growing cities creeps onto ancient migration routes and hunting grounds.
Sometimes the lions are killed by livestock farmers protecting their herds, other times they prowl leafy gardens giving residents a fright.
“These are highly populated areas and that is why we are intensifying the search,” Mr Udoto said. “Anyone with information about them should share it with us immediately.”
“Our teams comprising veterinary officials have been in Langata looking for the animals,” he said.
Rangers patrolled a narrow corridor of bush on the edge of Kibera district.
Its tin-roofed shacks house an estimated quarter of a million people, according to an aid agency.
