Police in Kenya follow lion footprints from abandoned motorcycle, find dead man
Police in Kenya on Monday recovered the body of a man believed to have been attacked by a lion while he was riding a motorcycle near a national reserve in the south of the country.
Police were notified by community members of an abandoned motorcycle along a road near the Marere forested area near the Shimba Hills National Reserve.
Officers saw lion footprints that led from the motorcycle to a thicket where they found the remains of an unknown dead man, according to a police report.
The lion population was declining in Kenya just over a decade ago, primarily due to human-wildlife conflict. The government listed lions as endangered, with an estimated population of 2,000 in 2010. A more recent survey put the number at 2,489.
Last May, 11 lions were speared to death in just one week -- including one of Kenya's oldest wild lions -- by herders after the big cats killed their livestock.
The Kenya Wildlife Service said it is working on lasting solutions that would address the conflict while protecting both humans and wildlife.