Kenya: New collars track lions, avoid human conflict

By Magdalene Mukami and Andrew Wasike

Nairobi (AA) – Kenya Monday kicked off a new program to help track the king of the jungle and avoid human-lion conflicts in the capital Nairobi, at African’s only urban national park.

Kenya Wildlife Service officials and a team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) tracked a lioness named Nyalla at the Nairobi National Park and using a tranquilizer gun, sedated her and fitted her with a satellite radio device to monitor her movement and location.

“The satellite devices will help us track the movements of the lions to better stop human-wildlife conflicts in the Kenyan capital where we have a national park located in the city,” wildlife service head Kitili Mbathi told reporters.

So far five lions in the park have been fitted with the collars donated by the IFAW.

“This equipment will help improve lion monitoring and hence better inform management decision-making,” he added.

Lions wandering out of the park and scaring residents have been a recurring problem. Last March park rangers shot dead a popular 13-year-old named Mohawk after he injured a man.