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 tourists, 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 poached, but that's not so big here in Kenya. So the major,
00:46major threat is loss of habitat and therefore loss of prey, but 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
01:01of vultures were poisoned in Kenya's Amboseli area. Conservationists say such incidents can turn a
01:07livestock loss into a wider ecological disaster. Problems with increasing the population of people,
01:14increasing livestock in those areas, has led drastically to lions and other predators starting
01:20to prey on livestock. And one of the ways to have that finish is to put down a poison called
01:28furradan,
01:30which originally was actually part of a pesticide. Conservationists say the future of lions will depend
01:36not only on protecting wildlife, but on supporting the people living alongside it. Kenya's conservancies are
01:43working to 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
01:55wildlife 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
02:06wildlife. That's how people can start to see this is an asset. This is not always a loss to me.
02:13And
02:14poisoning, unfortunately, will kill animals that are not targeted. It might even kill people.
02:21As World Lion Day is marked on August 10th, conservationists warned that for Africa's lions,
02:27survival is no longer just about protecting them inside reserves. It also means giving the people living
02:33alongside them a reason to keep them alive.
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