{"id":6825,"date":"2023-05-13T07:17:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-13T06:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebirareporters.com\/?p=6825"},"modified":"2023-05-13T07:17:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T06:17:54","slug":"africas-oldest-lion-killed-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebirareporters.com\/africas-oldest-lion-killed-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa’s Oldest Lion Killed in Kenya\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A male lion believed to be the oldest in Africa, Loonkito has been killed with a spear by herders in Kenya, authorities have revealed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The wild Loonkiito, who was 19, died on Wednesday night in Olkelunyiet village after preying on livestock.<\/p>\n

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The village borders Amboseli National Park – in southern Kenya.<\/p>\n

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Conservation group Lion Guardians said he was “the oldest male lion in our ecosystem and possibly in Africa”. Most lions live to around 13 in the wild.<\/p>\n

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Almost all lions live in Africa with a small population in India, according to the World Wildlife Federation.<\/p>\n

\n

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesperson Paul Jinaro told the BBC the lion was old and frail and wandered into the village from the park in search of food.<\/p>\n

\"Africa's
Loonkiito | Credit: Lion Guardians (Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mr Jinaro could not confirm if he was the oldest lion in the country but noted he was “very old”.<\/p>\n

\n

The Maasai-operated Lion Guardians group works to conserve the lion population in Amboseli National Park, and said the end of a drought was “habitually marked by an uptick in human-lion conflict” as “wild prey recover and become more difficult to hunt”.<\/p>\n

\n

“In desperation, lions often turn to take livestock,” it said.<\/p>\n

\n

It added the killing of Loonkiito was a “tough situation for both sides, the people and the lion”, and eulogised him as “a symbol of resilience and coexistence”.<\/p>\n

\n

Paula Kahumbu, a wildlife conservationist and chief executive officer of WildlifeDirect, said she was pained by the killing of the lion and called for measures to protect wildlife in the country.<\/p>\n

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“This is the breaking point for human-wildlife conflict and we need to do more as a country to preserve lions, which are facing extinction,” Ms Kahumbu told the BBC.<\/p>\n

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The average lifespan of a lion is about 13 years in the wild, although they can live much longer in captivity.<\/p>\n

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A picture of Loonkiito lying down in the foreground with the expanse of a flat grassland and clear blue sky behind him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A male lion believed to be the oldest in Africa, Loonkito has been killed with a spear by…\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[742],"tags":[1518,818,1519,1516,1517],"class_list":{"0":"post-6825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-international","7":"tag-amboseli-national-park","8":"tag-kenya","9":"tag-lion-guardians","10":"tag-loonkiito","11":"tag-oldest-lion-in-africa"},"yoast_head":"\nAfrica's Oldest Lion Killed in Kenya\u00a0 - Ebira Reporters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A male lion believed to be the oldest in Africa, Loonkito has been killed with a spear by herders in Kenya, authorities have 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