(CNN) — Loonkiito, possibly one of the world’s oldest lions, has died in Kenya at the age of 19, conservation organization Lion Guardians said.
The lion died Wednesday at the hands of the owner of a cattle pen, which Loonkiito had entered in the middle of the night in search of prey because he was “starving,” the organization said.
He was “the oldest male lion in our ecosystem and possibly in Africa,” Lion Guardians said, announcing his death “with a heavy heart.”
“It was a symbol of resilience and coexistence. We at Lion Guardians feel privileged to have witnessed his life and his legacy,” she added.
Credit: Philip J. Briggs/Lion Guardians
The organization attributes the long lives of wild lions, in a place where “a decade ago, we had no lions surviving beyond 10 years,” to the efforts of local communities that share the land with the big cats.
A dramatic increase in the demand for energy and materials in the last 50 years has left humans and lions competing for space and resources, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature website (WWF).
Lions travel far, sometimes venturing outside protected areas, to search for prey when their food source dwindles and may pose a risk to human communities when feeding on their livestock. Farmers often kill them in retaliation or to avoid conflict.
Unfortunately, Loonkiito was “stuck in this dynamic,” Lion Guardians said.
kenya suffers its worst drought in four decades. The organization said the end of a drought is often marked by an increase in human-lion conflict, as wild prey becomes more difficult to hunt and livestock owners are “particularly vigilant” after losing so many animals.
This incident “was a difficult situation for both sides, the people and the lion,” he added.
