 | NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK LIONS
NEED YOUR HELP
Ever wondered why you do not see any lions in Nairobi Park any more? The following extracts from Lesley Hannah and Ian Cowie make extremely disturbing reading. It is only by publicising what has been going on over the last few weeks that we can hope to achieve anything in terms of preventing our globally unique Nairobi National Park from becoming at best housing estate or Industrial Area, or at worst a slum. 1 June 2003 Today 2 more lions have been speared to death, just metres from the park boundary in the Kitengela. The lions were not just speared and left...but have been skinned, the male has had his head cut off (presumably for the mane), and their paws have been cut off for the claws, their hearts and liver cut out. Out and out poaching. Just over 2 weeks ago three lions were killed, a female with two 6 month old cubs. One of the cubs was the first to be killed. The same thing was done to them...paws cut off skinned, heart cut out...jaw cut off. Again out and out poaching. As yet there have been no arrests...It is under investigation. I went to film the bodies but was, basically told by the warden I could not. But the time I arrived at KWS the Warden told me they had disposed of the bodies. These are the facts. The Maasai have threatened to kill all the lions, they have also threatened to kill all the eland as they are eating their grass. There was no cow or goat carcass found with these poaching incidents. As it stands now there are maybe 15 lions left in the Park. We (Jim Cavanaugh, Judy Rudnai and myself) have set up a Big Cat Surveillance team with KWS. It is apparently not working. We are at a loss as to what to do to save the remaining lions in the Park. 2) 3rd June 2003 STOP PRESS: Several more cubs killed over the weekend. There are now no more wild adult males in NNP 3) We went to see the Warden again today...but with KWS being in the confusion it is in......it seems that still nothing is being done. KWS have patrols out there. The Masai kill the lions in front of them. It actually started 2 years ago...when a lion was killed for killing a zebra??? The KWS Rangers are scared of this wild group of youths that are out of control.. The DO has no control, the Chief has no control.....We have gone to the press. Youth For Conservation will hold a press conference tomorrow. Perhaps Public Pressure will stop this. So the more people that know what is happening the better. I would really like to go and see the President (yes..Kibaki)...not just for the lions..but for Nairobi Park itself and the rest of the animals that the Masai have threatened to kill. If anyone has any "in" with the Office of the President, please let me know. 4) NAIROBI PARK LIONS. 03 June 2003. In the past week, 5 Nairobi Park lions have been killed in the Kitengela, 2 the week before. In all cases, no domestic stock was involved, and skin, teeth, claws removed, presumably as saleable items. They were speared. This is a new slant, and we are advised by KWS staff on the ground that the intention is to kill all the Park lions and then start on Eland. Some of us met with KWS today. It seems there is little they can, or are prepared to do about this. We have written in to the Director urging immediate action to control the situation and to safeguard the remaining lions, which we estimate to be around eleven, possibly without a breeding male. A recent survey by KWS of visitors leaving the Park indicated that 80% wanted to see lion, and were disappointed at not being able to. It would help if you can bring this to the attention of all - particularly those trying to restart the Tourist Industry. 5) We met with the KWS Security Director Patrick Hamilton yesterday, but it appears that, for whatever reason, there is little that KWS can do. So...I am going to go this afternoon to be in the studio audience on a KBC show called Insight. Dr. Kulundu will be there, so we will ask for his help in this matter as KWS in under his Ministry. Just to let you know also that the KWS Ranger was not speared, but shot..by a stray KWS bullet. I think if he had been speared, by now some arrests would have been made. I got a call this afternoon from a KWS ranger who is in Sholingii with 5 of the lions. They are trying to dart them to bring them to KWS to keep them safe until we can figure out something else. But this is the area where the Masai are the worst..and have killed many of the lions. These 5 are the cubs..and hopefully their mother. There were 7 (2 yr. old cubs) and 2 adult females...one female was killed a while ago..and now 3 of the cubs.) These are the ones we have been working really hard to save from starvation...just to be chopped up by some wild youths. The next stop is the President...and I am working on contacts to get there. Again if anyone can help with this, please let me know. At 11 a.m. on Sunday 8th June there is a talk on lions for FONNAP where I will try and show my NNP Lion film with the added gorey pictures. It would appear that if this is left unattended to then it will be all the more grist to the mill for those who wish to see our unique National Park turned into a housing estate. There should no longer be any argument about fencing.
1) Burn the grass in the Park to attract the herbivores in,
2) Fence the park to keep them in and 3) Introduce lions and cheetahs from other protected areas in Kenya. Otherwise it WILL become a housing estate and we will have lost yet another part of our wonderful natural heritage. The time to act is NOW, so that when the tourists return, as they hopefully will, then we have something for them to look at. If we are to promote Kenya abroad then we must ensure that we have products to promote; Nairobi Park is one of those products.
CONTACT EVERYONE YOU CAN, GET IN TOUCH WITH KWS, MINISTER OF TOURISM, SEND LETTERS TO MEDIA, EVERYLITTLE HELPS
SAVE OUR HERITAGE, SAVE THE MOST UNIQUE PARK IN THE WORLD, DO IT NOW BEFORE ITS TOO LATE |
 |  |  | . Es > wäre sehr traurig wenn dieses "kleine Paradies" von der > Karte verschwinden würde. Gibt es konkrete > Adressen(E-mail)an die man sich wenden kann? > > Nachdenkliche Grüße von > Patsy Hi Patsy, leider habe ich wenig Zeit, aber die Nation wäre ein Ansprechpartner,Standart, Kibaki hat auch eine Seite im Netz (findest Du über Google). Ansonsten frag einfach Dave: Dave Mckelvie" <dave@tradewindskenya.com>
Falls Du weiter kommst, lass es mich bitte wissen, würde auch helfen. MfG Christine
|