‘World’s oldest wild lion’ Loonkiito is speared to death by herdsmen in Kenya after ‘straying too close to livestock’
A LION believed to be one of the oldest living in the wild was brutally killed by villagers while preying on livestock.
Loonkiito was 19 years old, and amazed scientists after living past the age expectancy for wild lions, which is only 13 years old.
Loonkiito died in the Olkelunyiet village in Kenya after wandering in to search for food, according to Kenya Wildlife Service.
Spokesperson Paul Jinaro said: “It was an old lion that had issues… getting prey on its own and livestock is easy prey.
“A normal lion would go for wildlife inside the park.”
Warriors from the Maasai Morans speared him to death after he attempted to eat their livestock.
The village where he was killed is on the edge of Amboseli National Park, one of Kenya’s most famous wildlife parks.
Paula Kahumbu is a wildlife conservationist who told the BBC she was pained by the killing of Loonkiito.
She said: “This is the breaking point for human-wildlife conflict and we need to do more as a country to preserve lions, which are facing extinction.”
The Kenya Wildlife Service referred to Loonkiito as a “legendary big cat warrior”, who was known for defending his territory.
Lion Guardians, a non-profit organisation, posted an emotional tribute to the beloved lion.
They said: “A decade ago, we did not have lions surviving past age 10 in this landscape.
“That Loonkiito and other older lions exist in the wild today is due to the efforts of many, primarily the communities who bear the burden of sharing land with lions.
“Thanks to them, we now witness lions living into and beyond their ‘golden’ years.”
In 2020, a nature lover who raised two rare white lions from when they were cubs was mauled to death by them in a horror attack.
Conservationist West Mathewson, 68, was playfully wrestling his beloved lionesses Demi and Tanner today when one of them turned on him.
The same beasts clawed a farm worker to death in 2017 at Mr Mathewson’s Tree Top Lodge at Hoedspruit near South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
But the kindly boss had continued to playfight and exercise them every day believing they would never attack him.
Sources told tonight how the regular rough and tumble “got a bit rough” until the elderly nature lover reeled back covered in blood.
He died from his injuries on his way to hospital.
Despite the previous fatal attack, tourists had continued to flock in their thousands to walk with the animals.