KAJIADO, Kenya (AP) \u2014 This year, less than a kilometer from where I live, a girl named Peace Mwende was killed by a lion. The news hit me hard: She was 14, the same age as my youngest daughter, and the lioness responsible may have been one of the animals we see in our neighborhood almost weekly.<\/p>\n
Our children are growing up in a part of Nairobi<\/a> where lions roam free. We see them while taking our kids to school. We\u2019ve lost pets and livestock. Neighborhood WhatsApp groups share warnings when big cats come close \u2014 and feature CCTV footage of lions hunting family pets.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a conservation headache for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which is tasked with keeping people who share space with wildlife safe, while protecting the wildlife as well \u2014 especially endangered species. KWS estimates that \u201cjust over 2,000\u201d lions remain in Kenya.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the rainy season, tall grass and shifting herbivore patterns make it difficult for carnivores to hunt,\u201d KWS wrote on a reel of a Nairobi lion cub rescue posted to its social media in July. The cub in the video had been seen starving in the park, causing a public outcry. KWS added it was \u201cconducting a feeding intervention, providing meat daily to the pride residing in the park to help them regain their strength and resume natural hunting.\u201d<\/p>\n Nairobi National Park, bordering the city to the north, has long relied on vast southern grazing lands for its wildlife to migrate to other protected areas. With those areas fast turning into residential and industrial developments, Kenya\u2019s State Department for Wildlife announced a nearly $5 billion plan to create a migratory corridor<\/a> between Nairobi and conservancies to the south. There are also nongovernment initiatives that pay landowners bordering Nairobi National Park a small annual fee to keep their properties unfenced for wildlife.<\/p>\n But will it be enough?<\/p>\n Avoid sudden movements<\/p>\n What\u2019s missing is greater awareness on how to behave around predators, especially among increasingly urban communities who are coming into contact with them.<\/p>\n