A 14-year-old girl was killed and eaten by a lion in front of her horrified friend after the animal entered her residential compound in Kenya, authorities said on Sunday.
The unnamed child was snatched by the wild cat from a residential area on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, before her friend called the authorities, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said in a statement.
“KWS rangers and response teams were swiftly mobilized and traced bloodstains leading to the Mbagathi River, where the girl’s body was recovered with injuries on the lower back,” the agency said.
The lion is believed to have escaped from Nairobi National Park, which borders the residential compound from where the girl was dragged.
The killer lion remains on the loose, but a trap has been set and search teams have been deployed in the wake of the shocking attack, the KWS said.
Additional security measures have been taken to prevent any further attacks, the agency added.
Nairobi National Park, just six miles from downtown Nairobi, is home to cheetahs, leopards, lions, buffalo and giraffes.
The park is fenced in on three sides to prevent animals from roaming into Nairobi, but is open on its southern side to allow animals to migrate in and out of the park.
While lions can come into contact with humans and harm livestock, fatal attacks on people are very rare.
A day earlier, a 54-year-old man was killed by an elephant in central Nyeri County, around 80 miles north of Nairobi.
The consecutive deaths were not isolated incidents, and KWS needs to improve “risk assessments and ensure accurate, real-time communication of wildlife movement and behavior, especially in known high-risk areas such as Savannah Ranch,” Paula Kahumbu, head of the WildlifeDirect conservation group, told BBC News.
All lodges, camps and residential developments near wildlife reserves should also be “equipped with anti-predator deterrent systems – including lights, alarms, secure fencing and anti-predator sprays,” she said. “Prevention is our first and best line of defense.”