Hippo kills flower farm worker in Lake Naivasha

By Antony Gitonga                          

NAIVASHA, kenya: A flower farm worker was attacked and killed by a hippo in Lake Naivasha in unclear circumstances. 

It’s suspected that the middle aged man was illegally fishing in the lake when the loney hippo attacked him. 

Operations in the busy water body were paralyzed as area residents milled to the scene near South Lake before police collected the body. 

The incident came as the department of fisheries expressed their concern over an increase in cases of poaching despite the three month fishing ban being in force. 

In the Monday’s incident, the flower farm worker was on the shores of the lake when the wild animal attacked. 

A colleague Joel Otieno said that they were attracted to the scene by screams and on enquiring found the man under attack. 

Otieno told how the deceased was cut into two pieces by the wild animal and died on the spot. 

“We just watched from a distance as the hippo attacked the man cutting him into two pieces,” he said. 

Confirming the incident, Naivasha OCPD Charles Kortok said that the body had been taken to the Naivasha district hospital mortuary. 

“The information we are getting is that the man was illegally in the lake when the hippo attacked killing him on the spot,” he said. 

On the issue of poaching, Naivasha district fisheries officers Mathew Ngila attributed the high number of poachers in the lake to high productivity against high demand for the fish. 

“Currently we have a high number of poachers in the lake and this is due to the high unemployment around this town,” he said. 

Ngila noted that the department was understaffed adding that issue of funding so as to conduct regular patrols was a challenge.  

Despite the challenges, the senior officer said that they were committed to getting rid of the poachers.