Wardens found the remains of the dead man alongside lion footprints (Picture: Getty)

Police in Kenya have recovered the body of a man believed to have been attacked by a lion while he was riding a motorcycle near a national reserve in the south of the country.

Officers were notified by community members of an abandoned motorcycle along a road near the Marere forested area near the Shimba Hills National Reserve in Kwale.

The body was believed to have been discovered by a senior game warden while on patrol at around 9am on January 1.

Wardens saw lion footprints leading from the motorcycle to a thicket where they found the remains of an unknown dead man, according to a police report.

‘After a short follow up they found freshly human body parts of unknown male African adult suspected to have been mauled by a lion,’ read a statement from police.

‘Police officers from Kwale Police Station led by County Police Commander and KWS officers visited the scene…The remains of the body have been collected and taken to Kwale sub-county hospital mortuary awaiting identification and postmortem,’ they added.

The lion population was declining in Kenya just over a decade ago, primarily because of human-wildlife conflict.

The government listed lions as endangered with an estimated population of 2,000 in 2010.

A more recent survey put the official number at 2,489.

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The body was discovered in a wooded area alongside a ruined motorbike and lion’s footprints.