KWS vows to hunt lioness spotted in Rongai
The Kenya Wildlife Society (KWS) said on Wednesday evening, May 22, that it had dispatched a special team to hunt down a lioness spotted in a residential area of Ongata Rongai in Kajiado County.
The lioness was captured on CCTV scaling a boundary wall and snatching a pedigree dog from a private residence in Nazarene residential area in the early hours of Wednesday.
In a statement, KWS spokesman Paul Jinaro said the Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) team was pursuing the lioness after the CCTV footage went viral on social media.
“Our Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) team is actively pursuing the dangerous big cat. KWS assures residents that the HWC team continues to patrol the area, supported by the more experienced Problem Animal Management Unit (PAMU),” said Jinaro.
“The public is informed that heavy rains, such as those experienced recently in Nairobi, cause herbivores to migrate through the unfenced southern part of Nairobi National Park towards settlements such as Rongai, Kitengela, Athi-Kapiti and the wider Kajiado area and its environs, where waterlogged soils and areas of over-long grass provide hiding places for predators.”
KWS added that these conditions attract predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas, which follow their prey into these areas.
“This movement of predators leads to unfortunate incidents like the one captured on CCTV,” he said.
KWS added that 80 per cent of Nairobi National Park is fenced, meaning the animals have escape routes, but assured that the city is safe from wildlife attacks.
According to KWS, the ongoing rains have caused significant displacement of wildlife, increasing the risk of encounters in nearby communities.
It warned residents in these areas to exercise caution, especially at night.
KWS also urged the public to be vigilant against misinformation, citing recent false reports of lion sightings near Nairobi Women’s Prison along Lang’ata Road.
In February, residents of Tuala, Rongai in Kajiado East were relieved after KWS translocated eight buffaloes to Nairobi National Park.
The roaming herds of buffalo had regularly appeared in residential areas over the past two weeks, posing a threat.
School children, university students and local residents were at risk of being attacked by the marauding buffalo herd.
KWS vet Dr Mukami Ruoro, who led the exercise, said the wild animals had been relocated to Nairobi National Park in a safe place to prevent possible future attacks.
“We managed to capture all the eight stray buffaloes and translocated them to the national park in a secure area,” Dr Ruoro said at the time.
Cases of human-wildlife conflict in Rongai have escalated in recent years as the human population has increased and encroached on areas originally occupied by wildlife.
Local people have reported an increase in the number of buffaloes roaming freely in the area, which they say pose a major threat to human life in the area.
Buffalo are known to be unpredictable and can pose a threat to humans if they feel threatened or provoked. Although attacks on humans are not extremely common, they can occur, especially if people get too close or disturb the animals.
It’s important to exercise caution and keep a safe distance when encountering wild buffalo to avoid any potential danger.
Earlier, eight buffaloes were seen roaming near Oloosirkon and also in Rongai in Kajiado East.
The animals have reportedly become a security threat to residents and a source of food insecurity.
In the same month, KWS discovered human remains near the site where a student at Multimedia University in Kajiado was attacked by a hyena.
Following protests by students at the university, KWS admitted in a statement that it had found the remains of another person who it believed had been attacked by the said hyenas.
The two people were attacked by the hyena in Rongai and “critically injured by hyenas in the Ole Kasasi area of Rongai, Kajiado County,” KWS said.