Man Killed by Elephant in Hombe Forest, Nyeri County

A 75-year-old man was trampled to death by an elephant in Hombe forest, Mathira, Nyeri County.

Police said Kibaki Muriuki was herding his sheep within Hombe forest on Wednesday December 11 when he was attacked by a rogue elephant.

He sustained injuries on both legs, a waist, and a cut on the forehead and died on the spot.

The animal escaped the scene. The body was moved to Karatina Hospital morgue for postmortem examination.

Kenya Wildlife Service personnel were informed and necessary actions were taken to ensure the safety of more herders in the area.

Locals said the animals were on the move and may have felt disturbed prompting the reaction.

There have been such cases of human wildlife conflict in separate incidents in the country.

Such incidents of human-wild animals conflicts have been on the rise in the area and places near national parks.

Many wild animals stray from major parks to villages.

KWS has mounted a campaign to address the menace, which includes fencing the areas.

The government and conservation groups have a compensation program for people and herders whose livestock is killed by wild animals.

But herders have become more protective after losing livestock to a drought that has been termed as the worst in decades in the East Africa region.

Officials said loss of habitat and climate change threatened the number of wild animals the wild and that their future looked “bleak”.

The officials say policies aimed at enabling communities to co-exist with wildlife were vital.

President William Ruto said that compensation money for fatal wilf animal attacks will increase from Sh200,000 to Sh5 million.

“If a farmer is attacked and killed by an elephant, the government will compensate his or her family with Sh5 million,” he said.

The President added that those who suffer injuries from attacks will be compensated depending on the injuries sustained but the money will now range from Sh1 million to over Sh3 million.

According to Ruto, victims and their families will also have a new online platform to report incidents in a bid to ensure their compensation is within months and not years as has been the case in previous years.