Kenya Wildlife Service has urged members of the public to ignore the images and reports that circulated on social media on Thursday purporting that four stray lions had been spotted at the Embakasi Internal Container Depot.
The latest caution by KWS comes after a local media outlet published pictures on its social media platforms purpoting them to be of stray lions roaming freely at the container terminal.
“We have noted the online circulation of false reports and pictures of a lioness and cubs sighted at the Inland Container Depot (ICDC) near Nairobi National Park. We have since established that the pictures and report were taken in India and not in Kenya as reported,” KWS said in a tweet.
We are therefore informing the public to disregard the images and reports. For emergency support, call our toll free number on 0800 597000
— KWS (@kwskenya) February 13, 2020
The service Kenyans to refrain from sending such false alarms as they result in wastage of resources in the process of clarification and end up causing unnecessary tension in the country.
The photos shared widely on social media were taken at the Pipavav Port in India.
An article that appeared on The Times of India on Wednesday showed the said pride of lions had been sighted at the port located in Surendranagar district.
“Scary!! it was like groups of big cats were on a picnic, and everyone surprised and scared by seeing lions group. Now the question is – how does this big group enter in Pipavav port?” the article read in part.
According to the article, the people in the district are used to such scenes in areas covered by jungles, but it was not possible for such a big group of lions to be seen in such public place in broad daylight.
“These are not good signs forest department has to take quick steps else we might hear a piece of news like Rajula where a Lion killed a five-year kid,” it added.
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