Kenya lions to be extinct within 20 years

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 17, 2009 (ENS) – Kenya could lose all its lions in the next 20 years if the current rate of decline continues unless urgent and decisive measures are taken, the Kenya Wildlife Service warned today. World famous for its wildlife, Kenya now has 2,000 lions in seven national parks and conservation areas, but the lion population has been declining by an average of 100 animals per year for the past seven years. Kenya Wildife Service spokesman Paul Udoto says lions are dying “due to a combination of factors, including human wildlife conflict, destruction of habitats, climate change, disease and increase in human population.” The first KWS chairman, conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, who now chairs the nonprofit Wildlife Direct, says lions are dying from ingesting animal carcasses laced with toxic carbofuran pesticide. Carbofuran has become known in rural communities in Kenya as an easy way to get rid of predators, Leakey told the BBC. He is lobbying government agencies to ban the pesticide. The population of lions has dropped from an estimated 2,749 in the year 2002 through 2,280 in 2004 to the current 2,000 animals. …