(CNN) -- Paula Kahumbu initially opted for a career in wildlife conservation so she wouldn't have to deal with people. But working with wild animals in her native Kenya has taught her that it is near impossible to prevent some vulnerable species coming into contact with human communities --- often with damaging consequences. As executive director of the Kenya Land Conservation Trust and chairman of the Friends of Nairobi National Park, Kahumbu now aims to reduce people-wildlife conflicts arising from these scenarios. "Africa is the only continent remaining on this planet that still has its full diversity of large mammals," she says. "We can't afford to lose it. We've always been able to co-exist with wildlife."
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Paula Kahumbu is a Kenyan conservationist aiming to reduce human-wildlife conflict
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Lion populations in Kenya have fallen drastically in the last 15 years
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Kahumbu is training lions and educating humans to get along better
She admits such a tactic may sound bizarre but believes it is essential to safeguard the big cat's future in @placeholder.
The power of communication emphasized by these exchanges has since acted as an inspiration for Kahumbu's latest conservation project --- the creation of recorded oral history of @placeholder's biodiversity.