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.

In:
• Kenya