Proefschrift
Conservation and management of lions in Kenya
Despite their ecological, cultural, and economic importance, lion (Panthera leo) populations in Kenya are declining rapidly due to retaliatory killings following livestock depredation, depletion of wild prey, habitat loss driven by human activities, climate change, and disease.
- Auteur
- M.M. Chege
- Datum
- 14 januari 2026
- Links
- Thesis in Leiden Repository
To counter these declines, Kenya has adopted a range of conservation strategies aimed at promoting human–lion coexistence and protecting suitable habitats. However, these strategies are often applied uniformly, without fully accounting for the substantial ecological, anthropogenic, and genetic differences influencing lion populations.
Kenya encompasses diverse climatic conditions and habitats, with lions managed across a fragmented network of state-protected national parks and reserves, community conservancies, group ranches, and private ranches or conservancies. These areas differ markedly in ecological characteristics, protection levels, and management objectives, ranging from strictly protected national parks to multi-use landscapes that integrate conservation with human land-use needs. Such variation is likely to have population-specific effects on lion ecology and dynamics.
This thesis investigates key factors influencing lion population dynamics across multiple populations in Kenya, with a focus on: (i) the effects of management strategies on genetic diversity, (ii) the influence of ecological and anthropogenic factors on lion grouping patterns, and (iii) the effects of rainfall on lion home range and movement. In addition, the thesis evaluates the applicability of Spatially Explicit Capture–Recapture (SECR) methods as a robust tool for long-term lion monitoring and conservation.
Genetic analyses of 171 lions from 12 core areas revealed clear population structure without evidence of inbreeding, with differentiation shaped by geographic barriers, human activities, climatic factors, fencing, and translocations. Analyses on lion grouping patterns showed that group size varied across management types and landscapes, with smaller groups occurring closer to human, suggesting that edge effects were impacting lions on a national scale. While larger groups were associated with proximity to water sources. Movement analyses demonstrated that increased rainfall was associated with greater travel distances and, in some cases, expanded home ranges, highlighting the influence of climate variability. SECR analyses revealed seasonal differences in density and movement.
Collectively, these findings underscore the importance of community involvement, functional habitat connectivity, and adaptive, site-specific management strategies. The thesis supports the establishment of landscape-scale lion management units that foster collaboration among government agencies, local communities, private landholders, and group ranches to ensure the long-term conservation of lions in Kenya.