KWS targets to move 50 ‘rogue’ crocodiles

• For families living along the shores of Lake Baringo, going to the water is a daily gamble with death.
• Children sent to fetch water can vanish in seconds. Goats are dragged beneath the surface as large crocodiles lurk metres from homes.
• KWS had recorded more than seven deaths and 17 injuries linked to crocodile attacks over the past decade.

For families living along the shores of Lake Baringo, going to the water is no longer a routine chore. It is a daily gamble with death.

Children sent to fetch water can vanish in seconds. Goats are dragged beneath the surface. And large crocodiles are increasingly lurking metres from homes as the lake continues to expand into settlements.

Now, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is moving to confront the growing threat, targeting up to 50 crocodiles blamed for repeated attacks on people and livestock.

The agency’s Veterinary and Capture Unit began a targeted operation last week to capture what officers describe as ‘rogue’ crocodiles in areas where attacks have been reported. The reptiles will be relocated to protected areas and parks with little or no crocodile presence, where they can be reintroduced into suitable habitats.

KWS says the operation is not aimed at wiping crocodiles out of Lake Baringo, where they remain an important part of the ecosystem and a draw for tourism. Instead, officers are identifying and removing individual animals considered a direct threat to communities.

Baringo County KWS Warden Grace Wendot said rising water levels had brought wildlife closer to homes, increasing the frequency of human-wildlife encounters.

“The increase in the water levels has also brought the animals closer to homes. We have, in many cases, taken mitigation measures against animals that pose a threat, and this is another step to reduce the numbers of crocodiles by relocating them to protected areas,” said Ms Wendot.

She said KWS had recorded more than seven deaths and 17 injuries linked to crocodile attacks over the past decade, with affected cases processed for compensation.

But behind those figures are families still living with the consequences of encounters with the reptiles.

At Chesesoi village, David Samut still keeps two fading photographs of his daughter, Cherop, in a brown envelope. The 11-year-old Grade Three pupil disappeared into Lake Baringo in August 2021 after a crocodile attacked her while she was fetching water with two friends.

The girls tried to pull Cherop back, but the reptile overpowered them and dragged her beneath the water. A five-day search involving residents, KWS officers and Ruko Conservancy rangers failed to recover her body.

Nearly a year later, Samut found several tiny bones near the same spot. Believing they belonged to his daughter, he handed them to police, who forwarded them to KWS offices in Kabarnet and later to the Government Chemist in Kisumu for examination.

The results, he said, did not identify the remains as those of his daughter.

Five years after Cherop disappeared, the family remains without certainty about what happened to her and, according to Samut, without compensation.

 “My daughter left school that afternoon full of joy. She promised her teacher she would be the first to report back the following morning. Instead, she never came home,” he recalled.

Cherop’s disappearance came as the lake steadily crept toward the family’s home. The shoreline, which once lay more than three kilometres away, is now barely 200 metres from Samut’s doorstep.

“In the past, crocodile and hippo attacks were very rare. Today people have died, others have lost their limbs, many are nursing permanent injuries, and our livestock are constantly being attacked. My daughter became one of many victims,” he said.

The crocodiles changing the threat

Lake Baringo Senior Warden Jackson Komen said the problem was not simply an increase in crocodile attacks, but the changing landscape of the lake itself.

He said KWS estimates that hundreds of crocodiles have been added to the lake’s population over the years as its waters expanded, increasing the chances of encounters with people.

But it is the large, dark crocodiles that have particularly unsettled residents and wildlife officers.

Mr Komen describes them as ‘rogue’ crocodiles, large, black and aggressive animals associated with repeated attacks. He said such crocodiles were not traditionally found in Lake Baringo.

He believes they arrived as the lake expanded, although their precise origin has not been established.

 “The crocodiles are very different, black and big in size. They are believed to have migrated into the lake when it overflowed and are different from those originally found here, which are smaller and brown,” said Mr Komen.

According to the warden, the original crocodile population was largely made up of smaller, brown animals considered less aggressive, while the larger, darker crocodiles are now being reported around areas where people and livestock are attacked.

KWS plans to capture about 50 of the animals, using complaints from residents to identify areas where attacks have been reported.

The targeted areas include Meisori, Kampi ya Samaki, Komolion, Ng’enyin, Kokwa Island, Katuit, Kiserian, Loruk and Uwanja Ndege villages.

“We are not going to relocate more than 50 crocodiles because of tourism. We also don’t want to ecologically disturb them,” Mr Komen said.

The operation comes as Lake Baringo undergoes one of the biggest transformations in its recent history. The lake has expanded from about 143 square kilometres in 2009 to approximately 270 square kilometres currently, according to Mr Komen, swallowing homes, schools, roads, grazing land and other infrastructure.

As the shoreline advances, the boundary that once separated wildlife from human settlements is disappearing.

Places where residents once lived kilometres from the lake are now on its edge. Schools and health facilities have been surrounded by water, while livestock and people increasingly share the same shoreline with crocodiles and hippos.

At Kampi ya Samaki, Mercy Jepkoech said the rising waters had fundamentally changed life in the community.

“Most of the structures adjacent to the lake, including schools, homes, health facilities, churches and even hotels, have been swallowed by the lake. The phenomenon has also led to a rise in human-wildlife conflicts as wildlife moves closer to people’s homes,” said Ms Jepkoech.

She welcomed the KWS operation, particularly because children regularly visit the lake to fetch water or water livestock.

“We no longer send children unaccompanied to the lake either to water animals or fetch water because they are susceptible to attacks,” she said.

Kobilo Yegut, another resident, said families had lost both relatives and livestock to the expanding threat.

At Kokwa Island, the losses have become particularly alarming. Mr Komen said residents report losing between five and eight goats to crocodiles every day in some areas.

“At Kokwa Island, the water levels have increased and crocodile attacks have increased, to an extent of losing about five to eight cases of goats being eaten by the animals every day,” he said.

He warned that continued loss of livestock could eventually force crocodiles to seek other prey.

“That is why we are doing this to manage the numbers. The rest of the crocs will remain because that is their home while we continue doing awareness. We are putting security first,” he said.

The crocodile took her leg

For some families, the danger has already exacted a devastating price.

In 2024, a Grade Nine girl from the area was attacked while fetching water from the lake with her younger sister. A crocodile seized her left leg and tried to pull her into the water.

Her younger sister screamed and threw stones at the reptile as the girl clung desperately to a tree stump. The crocodile eventually released her, but the injuries were catastrophic. Doctors later amputated the girl’s leg.

The family spent more than two months in hospital and incurred medical bills exceeding Sh1 million before eventually moving away from the lake, fearful of another attack.

KWS said the expanding lake had also increased encounters with hippos and snakes in flooded areas, adding to the risks facing communities.

For residents, the crocodile operation offers a rare sense of relief. But KWS officers acknowledge that relocation alone cannot resolve a conflict being driven by a rapidly changing landscape.

Lake Baringo continues to expand with the rainy seasons, while communities remain dependent on its waters for drinking, domestic use and watering livestock.

The immediate plan is therefore a combination of capture and relocation, alongside awareness campaigns aimed at reducing dangerous encounters.

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