Kajiado County Governor Joseph ole Lenku has condemned the recent poisoning of lions in the Amboseli Natonal Park and warned that human-wildlife conflict in the county poses a serious threat to both livelihoods and conservation gains.

In a statement, Lenku cited two incidents reported in early January that resulted in the deaths of several lions and vultures in different parts of the county.

On January 1, six lions and 34 vultures were killed after consuming poisoned carcasses at Kitenden Community Conservancy, a key wildlife corridor in the southern Amboseli ecosystem.     

Authorities said the poisoning was deliberate and illegal, noting that it also posed risks to livestock, people and the wider environment. Barely a week later on January 7, four lionesses strayed into residential areas in Oloosirkon-Sholinke Ward within the Athi-Kapiti Conservancy near Nairobi National Park.

Despite efforts by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to secure and relocate the animals, one lioness was killed by members of the public.

Although the two incidences are not directly linked, Governor Lenku said they reflected growing pressure on shared landscapes caused by prolonged drought, shrinking grazing land, fencing, unregulated development and human settlement within wildlife corridors and buffer zones.

“For generations, pastoralist communities and wildlife have coexisted, but that balance is under severe strain,” he said, adding that critical dry-season grazing areas and wildlife dispersal zones were rapidly disappearing.

The governor expressed concern that the poisoning occurred within Kitenden, a community conservancy voluntarily set aside to promote coexistence, saying this pointed to an erosion of trust and tolerance.

He also highlighted the trans-boundary nature of the Amboseli-Kilimanjaro ecosystem, which spans Kenya and Tanzania, calling for stronger cross-border collaboration among communities, conservation institutions and authorities.

Governor Lenku described poisoning as a catastrophic form of retaliation, saying it indiscriminately kills wildlife, wipes out scavengers such as vultures, contaminates soil and water and poses serious risks to people and livestock. He said those responsible must be tracked down and prosecuted.

He noted that unlike poaching, which is often commercially motivated, human-wildlife conflict is largely driven by fear, anger and loss, warning that unchecked retaliation could lead to the local extinction of wildlife species.

To address the crisis, the governor said the county government was reviewing its conservation strategy to prioritise prevention, faster response to conflict incidents and tougher enforcement against wildlife crimes.

He said the County Conservancies Fund Bill, currently before the Kajiado County Assembly, proposes the establishment of a consolation fund to cushion pastoralist communities against losses arising from human-wildlife conflict. The county also plans to convene a high-level stakeholder forum to develop practical, community-based solutions.

“The deaths in Kitenden and Sholinke are not just losses for wildlife. They are a warning that unless urgent action is taken, coexistence between people and wildlife will continue to deteriorate,” the governor said one of the lions which was poisoned at the Amboseli ecosystem at Kitenden community conservancy.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Diana Meneto