Kenyan Government Deploys Female Rangers to Protect Wildlife from Retaliatory Killings

Kenya’s government has expressed concern after a series of retaliatory killings of lions in the past week. On Thursday, one of Kenya’s oldest wild lions, Loonkiito, was killed by herders. The 19-year-old lion was described as frail by Kenya Wildlife Service spokesperson Paul Jinaro, who said it wandered out of the Amboseli national park into a village in search of food.

The incident was followed by the spearing of six other lions from the same national park after they killed 11 goats in Mbirikani area, Kajiado county. This brings the total number of lions killed by herders last week to 11.

In response to the escalating human-wildlife conflict, the Kenyan government has deployed a new team of female rangers to protect the country’s wildlife. The team is proving to be very successful in their mission, with the rangers patrolling the area and providing education to local communities on how to coexist with wildlife.

The rangers have also been working with local communities to develop strategies to reduce conflict between humans and wildlife. This includes providing alternative sources of income for herders, such as beekeeping, and setting up early warning systems to alert communities when wildlife is nearby.

The Kenyan government is hopeful that the new team of female rangers will be able to reduce the number of retaliatory killings of lions and other wildlife, and ensure that both humans and wildlife can coexist peacefully.