NAIROBI, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will redouble efforts geared toward the protection of carnivores, including lions, spotted hyenas, and leopards, as threats to their survival mount, a senior official said Thursday.
Speaking at the 14th Carnivore Conference taking place in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Erustus Kanga, director general of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), a state-owned wildlife management agency, stressed that protecting carnivores in their natural habitat is key to sustaining tourism revenue and ecological balance.
According to Kanga, the population of carnivores in the country has been on a decline amid climatic shocks, habitat degradation, loss of prey species, and retaliatory attacks by nomadic communities. "This calls for well-thought-out ideas on how to reverse these declines and secure the future of carnivores as a global heritage," Kanga said.
Convened by the KWS and partners, the two-day meeting that runs until Friday brings together senior policymakers, researchers, and campaigners to explore innovative ways of enhancing the protection of these iconic species.
Kanga said the government is implementing a raft of measures to protect lions, cheetahs, leopards and wild dogs, informed by science and sound policy formulation. He said the theme of the conference, "Carnivore Conservation in Changing Landscape," is a clarion call for key stakeholders to address the human and ecological dimension of threats facing these species.
Kanga observed that human-hyena conflict has escalated recently in peri-urban settlements bordering Nairobi, leading to loss of lives and property damage. He added that the speedy implementation of the second edition of the National Recovery and Action Plan for Lion and Spotted Hyena aims to shield them from emerging threats such as poaching, contagious diseases, and human encroachment on their habitats.
Kanga said fostering a healthy coexistence between carnivores and local communities combined with enlarging their prey base is key to averting the extinction of these iconic species.
