A male lion believed to be 19 years old, and one of the oldest lions in the world was killed in Kenya after he tried to steal livestock from a local community.
Loonkiito was born in 2004, and lives in the Amboseli tsavo eco-system – a region in Kenya which protects hundreds species of wildlife, and 1.3 millions acres of land spread across four national park.
The conservation organisation Lion Guardians posted the news of the lion’s passing on social media with “heavy heart” on Wednesday. They added that the lion was “the oldest male lion possible in Africa and in our ecosystem”.
According to reports, Loonkiito has been killed in the village of Olkelunyiet.
Due to the drought, it was harder for lions to find wild prey, making hunting for food more difficult.
The lion then tried to steal livestock from the communities that are already vigilant about protecting their remaining animals.
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Lion Guardians released a statement saying: “Unfortunately Loonkiito got caught in this dynamic, as he was hungry and jumped into a pen of animals in the middle night.”
The lion and its people were both in a difficult situation, it said.
The charity stated that a decade earlier, no lions lived beyond the age 10 in the Amboseli – tsavo eco system, but “the efforts of the communities who bear burdens of sharing land with lions” was the reason for the impressive longevity Loonkiito, and other lions of a similar age.
It said that it would always remember Loonkiito for its “resilience” and “coexistence”.
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