00:00Brushing through the grass at Olpejeta Conservatory, these lions are a symbol of Kenyan's wildlife
00:06wealth and one of its toughest conservation challenges. They attract tourist photographers
00:11while playing a crucial role as apex predators, but their numbers across Africa have fallen
00:17sharply with habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict among the biggest threats.
00:22Kenyan's lion populations, which number about 2,500 to 2,600, face the major threat facing
00:31their conservation and their future well-being is habitat loss and fragmentation. Human-wildlife
00:39conflict is major. Some lions are also killed and poached, but that's not so big here in Kenya.
00:45So the major, major threat is loss of habitat and therefore loss of prey,
00:51but also conflicts with people is major.
00:54Africa is estimated to have just 20,000 to 23,000 lions left. Earlier this year, lions and dozens of
01:01vultures were poisoned in Kenya's Amoseli area. Conservationists say such incidents can turn a
01:07livestock loss into a wider ecological disaster.
01:11The problem with increasing the population of people, the increase in livestock in those areas
01:16has led drastically to lions and other predators starting to prey on livestock. And one of the ways
01:25to have that finish is to put down a poison called furradan, which originally was actually part of a pesticide.
01:34Conservationists say the future of lions will depend not only on protecting wildlife,
01:38wildlife, but on supporting the people living alongside it. Kenya's conservancies are working
01:44to create livelihoods, reduce losses, and help communities coexist with predators.
01:49Poisoning happens when people get aggrieved, when they see nothing is being done, when they see
01:56wildlife is very costly. How can we turn wildlife into an asset? We have already covered some of that
02:01through conservation enterprise, through providing employment, and through reducing the cost of living
02:06with wildlife. That's how people can start to see this is an asset. This is not always a loss to
02:12me.
02:13And poisoning, unfortunately, will kill animals that were not targeted. It might even kill people.
02:21As World Lion Day is marked on August 10th, conservationists warn that for Africa's lions,
02:27survival is no longer just about protecting them inside reserves.
02:31It also means giving the people living alongside them a reason to keep them alive.
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