Fear engulfs fishermen as Naivasha hippo attacks increase

Fishermen in Lake Naivasha have renewed their calls to the Ministry of Wildlife of Tourism to either cull or relocate the rising numbers of hippos in the water body.

This is after a foot fisherman was attacked and killed by a hippo near Kihoto estate while on a fishing mission as his colleagues watched in horror.

The father of four was fishing along the shores of the lake when the lone hippo attacked, dragging him into the deep waters before crushing him to death using its jaws.

This brought to three the number of people killed by hippos since the year began with over 30 people losing their lives last year.

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According to Francis Muthui, the chairman of Friends of Lake Naivasha, the water body was recording at least four deaths related to  hippo attacks every month.

He said that foot fishermen were the most affected as the fishing sector continued to attract hundreds of unemployed youths mainly from the nearby informal settlements.

“We had proposed that the hippos be culled but KWS ruled this out and it's time it was decided if some of the animals could be relocated to other water bodies,” he said.

Muthui added that the closure of wildlife corridors and encroachment of riparian land had caused the animals to be more violent, unlike some years back.

But Grace Nyambura from Lake Naivasha Network Group accused the victims of encroaching into the animals’ territory leading to their deaths.

She said that the foot fishermen were illegally on the lake adding that no licensed fisherman had been attacked or killed by a hippo in the lake for years.

“We sympathize with those who have lost their kin to hippo attacks and its time that the government addressed the issue of unemployment among the youths,” she said.

The Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) has termed the number of hippos in Lake Naivasha as ‘healthy’ despite rising cases of fatal attacks.  

The research institute noted that a census conducted last year indicated that the lake had over 500 hippos which were optimal with the number rising gradually.

According to the Institute Director Dr Patrick Omondi, human encroachment and closure of wildlife corridors were to blame for the rising cases of attacks.

Omondi noted that the number of hippos was on the rise against an increase in human activities around the water body.

“The last census conducted on the lake indicated that there were over 500 hippos in the lake which is healthy for the size of such a water body,” he said.