NAIROBI, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday marked World Lion Day with the country's wildlife agency reiterating its commitment to protect the iconic carnivore from emerging threats including poaching, retaliatory attacks by nomads, and habitat loss.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the country's lion population currently stands at 2,500, stressing that the government was committed to raising the numbers in a bid to boost tourism and ecological balance.

The KWS said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, that the government is implementing the second edition of the National Recovery and Action Plan for the Lion and Spotted Hyena covering 2020 to 2030.

"The action plan's goal is to restore and maintain viable populations of lions, spotted hyenas, and their wild prey while minimizing conflict and maximizing value to local communities," read the statement.

In addition, Kenya has adopted spatial technology to capture the movement of lions in the jungle while engaging communities to protect them in their natural habitats, the wildlife agency said.

Besides poaching for their jaws and bones, lions are suffering from climatic shocks, depletion of their habitats, competition for space with local nomads, and reduction of their prey population, according to the KWS.

Dubbed the king of the jungle, the lion has been part of Kenya's cultural heritage and its survival is critical to generate tourism revenue and boost conservation of vital ecosystems.

Kenya, according to the wildlife agency, has domesticated global and regional instruments to promote the conservation of the African lion, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Wildlife Conservation and Management Act of 2013 in particular calls for sustained action on human and climatic threats facing lions, said the KWS.

World Lion Day, which is marked annually on Aug. 10, aims to raise awareness of threats facing the big cat and inspire key stakeholders including governments and local communities to promote their protection. This year's World Lion Day was observed under the theme of "Reducing human-lion conflict through enhanced collaboration with communities." Enditem

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