Kajiado has seen its fair share of human lion conflict over the years, but the already fairly sour relationship between herders and the biggest of the five cats seems to have found its peak this week with the killing of Mohawk the lion in Isinya Kajiado on Wednesday, followed by another Lion on Thursday in Oloshaki Village Kitengela, Kajiado.
Residents, who accuse the Kenya Wildlife Service of incompetence say that it took them nearly an eternity to get to the scene of what most of them would consider a crime, after one cow was allegedly killed by the Lion.
The KWS Officers, who arrived to later on haul away the carcass of the dead lion would later unveil a helicopter, which scanned the scene of the lion’s death from above for some time before it disappeared, too late to salvage anything from the already escalated situation.
The group of Moran’s who speared the Lion to death later claimed to have afforded the Lion an opportunity to eat its last meal—the cow it had just killed, as a testament to the mercy they showed it. Allegations were instead lobbied at KWS, whose officers they accused of shooting Mohawk the Lion dead barely two days before after the residents of Isinya had tried steadfastly to contain it for five hours, hoping for a less than lethal resolution to the stalemate.
Isinya Deputy County Commissioner David Kipkimei, who confirmed the story, accused the KWS of negligence, and questions are now being raised as to how any progress in the conservation of Wildlife is to be made, if the rangers who are to be ahead of the efforts sorely lack the strategy to do their part. The two incidents, which have elicited sharp reactions from the public, threaten to derail confidence in the already embattled