A man was attacked and killed by a hippopotamus at Lake Nakuru.
The incident happened on August 7 in the Bondeni area, police and Kenya Wildlife Service officials said. The body of the man was retrieved from the water three days later on August 10.
This was after a team composed of locals, police and KWS staged a search in the area. Police said the body had forehead injuries and was taken to Kwa Jack Mortuary to await the postmortem.
Elsewhere in Marimanti, Tharaka Nithi County, three men were arrested with four live pancake tortoises. The men had packed the animals in a carton and labeled them as software ready for transport when they were intercepted while riding on two motorcycles.
Police and KWS officials said the animals were poached from the nearby Meru National Park. The officials are investigating the destination of the animals.
They were taken to custody as the animals were taken back to their habitat. Police said the suspects will face charges of illegally being in possession of the animals under the wildlife laws.
And officials in Laikipia are investigating the death of an elephant in Midey Farm. The animal was found dead at the weekend with its tusks intact.
A team was sent to the area to conduct an autopsy on the animal. The tusks were removed for safe custody, officials said fearing they could be stolen by poachers operating in the area.
Elephant tusks fetch a fortune in the black market as a surge in demand for ivory in the East continues to fuel the illicit trade in elephant tusks, especially from Africa.
Officials say despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers.
As part of efforts to stop the menace, Kenya has started using high-tech surveillance equipment, including drones, to track poachers and keep tabs on elephants and rhinos.
Kenya Wildlife Service and stakeholders have put in place mechanisms to eradicate all forms of wildlife crime, particularly poaching.
These mechanisms include enhanced community education, interagency collaboration, and intensive intelligence-led operations, among others.
These efforts led to zero rhino poaching in Kenya in 2020-the first time in about two decades.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
