Which way, for Human-wildlife conflict victims in Kenya

Naivasha,

Tuesday, October 17, 2023,

KNA by Mabel Keya – Shikuku

Kenya is a renowned tourism destination in the world, with its attractive sandy beaches at the coast and diverse wildlife which attracts millions of tourists to the country each year. 

This makes tourism in Kenya the second-largest source of foreign exchange earner, hot on the heels of the agriculture sector which earns Kenya about 70 percent of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to data from the Ministry of Tourism released in March this year, Kenya's international tourist arrivals in 2022 were 1,483,752 which represents a 70.45 per cent increase as compared to 2021 arrivals of 870,465.

The income earnings grew up to Sh268.09 billion compared to Sh146.51 billion in 2021 when Kenya was still in the jaws of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is a growth of 83 percent.

Tourism and Wildlife Heritage Cabinet Secretary (CS), Peninah Malonza who has since been transferred to the Ministry of East African Community, the ASALS and Regional Development, was in June this year quoted saying that 5.5million visitors toured various tourist sites in Kenya in the post-COVID period, 3.5million of whom were local tourists.

But this enviable Kenyan heritage that is our wildlife has sometimes brought with it human-wildlife conflicts and statistics show that they are becoming more frequent, serious, and widespread because of human population growth, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, climate change, and other drivers of habitat loss.

CS Malonza was in May this year saying that the Government owes human-wildlife conflict victims Sh5.6 billion which has been pending since 2013. She said this as she released Sh. 940 million in July this year as part of this outstanding compensation. 

Parts of the country had experienced four consecutive seasons with inadequate rain in the past two years, which severely affected people and animals, including livestock, thus increasing the human-wildlife conflict. The worst-affected ecosystems are home to some of Kenya's most-visited national parks, reserves, and conservancies, including the Amboseli, Tsavo, and Laikipia - Samburu areas.  

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in November last year reported that it had lost 205 jumbos, 512 wildebeests, 381 common zebras, 51 buffalos, 49 Gravy’s zebras, and 12 giraffes in the past nine months to the ravaging drought. This then brings a heavy burden of compensating the victims on the taxpayer. 

The Kenya Wildlife Management and Compensation Act of 2013 stipulates payment of Sh3m for an injury that has led to the amputation of a body part, while next of kin are to receive Sh5m for a family member who died as a result of wild animal. 

Elephants, lions, buffalos, leopards, cheaters, hyenas, snakes, and hippos are among the wild animals responsible for the attack.  

Now, hippopotamuses are considered the third largest living land mammals after elephants and rhinos. 

Hippos thrive well in aquatic environments where they spend most of their time submerged in water during the day, coming out at night to graze on grass and other plants within their habitat.  

Lake Naivasha in Nakuru County which is one of the habitats of this huge mammal, continues to report increased incidence of human-wildlife conflicts and hippo attacks that have left several people dead and others with long-life injuries. 

According to Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) Director Dr. Patrick Omondi, Lake Naivasha is currently home to 500 hippos. This is according to a census conducted this year. 

Dr. Omondi says this population is healthy as the lake can comfortably accommodate the mammals without overstretching the existing resources. 

However, this has not come without its fair share of challenges with the most common being the hippo attacks that have left fatalities in their wake. 

According to the director, human encroachment into the grazing grounds and habitat of hippos is the major cause of the increased attacks. He has called for a concerted effort to sensitize the public on the appropriate distance to be reserved for wild animals from human settlement in order to curb such attacks. 

Sample this, November 27, 2019, was just a normal day for Peter Njuguna Wanjiku, then a small-scale farmer who carried out his activities on Banda Beach on the shores of Lake Naivasha. 

On this particular day, Njuguna narrates that he embarked on tending to his farm, as was the norm, as he was fixing a water pipe he was using to irrigate his farm just by the lakeside, the dreaded animal pounced on him and a split of a second, the huge mammal trampled him down and he sustained serious injuries on his right arm and legs in an attack that left him comatose. 

Njuguna was lucky to survive the attack after fellow farmers from the nearby gardens rushed to his rescue and scared the hippo away, he was rushed to the hospital but little did he know that his life would change for good, thanks to this attack. 

A couple of days later while recuperating at the hospital the doctors informed Njuguna that his right leg would have to be amputated at the hip in order to save his life, faced with this tough reality, he had no option but to give in to the medics’ advice. 

After spending several months on a hospital bed, the lucky survivor was fitted with an artificial limb to aid his movement and was later released from the hospital. 

Life was however not been the same again for Njuguna who could not afford to fend for himself and his family as was the case before the attack, forcing his wife to flee from their home. His story can be replicated by thousands of other people in the country who have been victims of this conflict. 

However, to Njuguna, seeking compensation from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) was not on his mind as he had no prior knowledge of a compensation plan extended to victims of wildlife attacks. 

Henry Lengiro, a fisher folk at the Kamere beach, Lake Naivasha is also lucky to survive and narrate his ordeal under the merciless jaws of a notorious hippo nicknamed "masikio", three times in a row. 

Lengiro broke his arm when "masikio" grabbed his hands spun him in the air and threw him to the shore. He was rushed to the hospital where he was informed that he had lost three tendons on his arm and this acts as a constant reminder of the chilling torment he underwent. 

Lengiro, a self-confessed illegal fisherman says lack of job opportunities and the closure of many flower firms in the area has rendered many people jobless and pushed many like him to the lake to enable them to put a meal on the table for his family. 

He adds that if alternative job opportunities are created for them in the area, many of the vulnerable youths who endanger their lives by engaging in illegal fishing can venture into other economic activities and help salvage their lives that are at risk of being ended by the marauding large mammals. 

Last month, Francis Wachira,46, an employee of the Naivasha Water and Sewerage Company (Naivawasco) was attacked by a hippo while on duty at the sewage treatment plant leading to his death while undergoing treatment. 

KWS however moved in to set traps to capture and relocate the family of six hippos that had invaded the treatment plant and turned it into their home. 

All having been said and done, more needs to be done not only to compensate the victims of these wildlife attacks some of whom have lost lives, livestock, and crops and others maimed. 

The victims should be rehabilitated and helped to live normal lives as much as possible and have a positive attitude towards this wildlife which is our heritage society sensitized about the importance of this wildlife instead of killing them and be encouraged to set aside part of their parcels of land for wildlife securities so that they can together reap maximum benefits form this heritage. 

Courtesy; KNA