A game reserve warden in Kenya made a horrifying discovery while patrolling the grounds of Shimba Hills National Park Reserve on Monday: "Fresh human body parts of an unknown male."
That's according to officials with the game reserve, who say the warden also found a motorcycle nearby surrounded by lion tracks, the Associated Press reported. The tracks led to a thicket where the man's body was found.
Officials believe the man was mauled to death by a lion.
"After a short follow-up they found fresh human body parts of unknown male African adult suspected to have been mauled by a lion," Fox News reported, citing a police statement shared by Kenya's Citizen TV.
"The remains of the body have been collected and taken to Kwale sub-county hospital mortuary awaiting identification and postmortem," the statement added.
No additional information was released.
Kenya's lion population has been steadily growing, from fewer than 2,000 in 2010 to nearly 2,500 today, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Meantime, the total population of wild lions in Africa has declined approximately 43% over the past two decades, with roughly 20,000 to 25,000 individuals remaining, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. As such, the African Lion is currently classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List assessment, just one step away from being endangered.