A 14-year-old girl has been killed by a lion on the outskirts of Nairobi, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said.

The child was snatched from a residential compound on a ranch next to Nairobi National Park, according to the conservation agency.

The alarm was raised by another teenager and KWS rangers followed tracks to the nearby Mbagathi River, where they found the primary school girl's remains.

The lion has not been found but KWS said it had set a trap and deployed search teams to look for the animal.

The agency added that additional security measures had been taken to prevent any further attacks.

Nairobi National Park lies just 10km (six miles) from the city centre and is home to animals such as lions, buffalos, giraffes, leopards and cheetahs.

It is fenced on three sides to stop animals roaming into the city but it is open to the south to allow animals to migrate in and out of the area.

While lions often come into conflict with humans in Kenya, especially over livestock, it is not common for people to be killed.

Last year, CCTV footage captured the moment a lion snatched a Rottweiler dog from another home near Nairobi National Park.

KWS also reported that a 54-year-old man was killed by an elephant on Saturday. The incident happened in the central Nyeri county, about 130km (80 miles) north of Nairobi.

The elephant was grazing in Mere Forest when it attacked the man, who sustained serious chest injuries, fractured ribs and internal trauma.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.

Paula Kahumbu, head of the WildlifeDirect conservation group, said the deaths were not isolated incidents and urged KWS 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," where the 14-year-old was killed.

She also said that all lodges, camps, and residential developments near areas where wildlife lived should be "equipped with anti-predator deterrent systems - including lights, alarms, secure fencing, and anti-predator sprays".

"Prevention is our first and best line of defense," she added.

(BBC)

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