Kenyan wildlife rangers have begun rounding up thousands of zebras in an attempt to provide natural food for starving lions in a national park.

The wildlife service said it aims to move 7,000 animals, mainly zebra, to Amboseli National park, to stop hyenas and lions from attacking livestock in homes around the park.

The attacks come after thousands of zebra and wildebeest died in a severe drought in the park last year, leaving the lions without their natural source of prey.

"The deaths created an imbalance in the number of carnivores and herbivores in the park resulting in a shortage of the lions' and hyenas' normal food," Paul Udoto, a spokesman for the service, said.

"It is expected that the restocking will restore the balance of animals within the park and reduce the lion and hyena attacks on livestock."

Rangers in helicopters began rounding up galloping zebras on Wednesday, and moving them into a large V-shaped enclosure made of tarpaulin.

The animals were loaded onto trucks from an enclosed pen, with each vehicle carrying some two dozen zebras.

The operation, costing $1.3m, will run to February 28, officials said.

Kenya's last massive animal transfer was in 2005, targeting 400 elephants from an over-crowded coastal reserve to a vast inland park, but that had to be halted due to drought that threatened their survival in their new home.