Kenya Feeds Zebras to Hungry Lions

In a sort of zoological sacrifice, the Kenyan government is rounding up thousands of zebras and wildebeest to feed to starving lions and hyenas in the country's drought-ridden south. Some 80% of herbivores in Amboseli National Park were felled by the dry conditions, leading the hungry carnivores to attack neighboring livestock. But locals have threatened to kill them if they feed on their animals.

Locals “are getting angry and threatening to spear” the lions, whose numbers have dwindled to 2,000 nationwide, a Kenya Wildlife Service spokeswoman tells CNN. The solution: 4,000 zebras and 3,000 wildebeest, gathered elsewhere and transported to Amboseli to sate the carnivores’ hunger. The spokeswoman stresses that the prey animals are expected to breed and satisfy the lions and hyenas for a long time to come. (More lion stories.)