Residents of several estates around the Wildlife Research and Training Institute in Naivasha are up in arms over an increase in cases of buffalo’s attacks and invasion in their farms and homes.
The residents of Unity Farm, Maryland, Mirera and Kayole have now given KWS a one week ultimatum to act failure to which they will seek ways of ending the menace.
This came as KWS officers neutralised one buffalo that had wreaked havoc in Unity Farm forcing residents to spend hours locked in their houses.
In the last couple of weeks, over 50 buffaloes have raided tens of farms, destroyed crops worth millions and attacked two people injuring one of them seriously.
According to Simon Kariuki, the chairman of the three estates that border each other, residents were living in fear due to an increase in the number of the buffaloes.
He noted that school going children and residents working late were the most affected, adding that efforts to get help from KWS had failed.
“We have given KWS a one week ultimatum to push out these animals failure to which we shall be forced to devise new ways of dealing with them,” he said.
Former Lakeview MCA Simon Wanyoike said they feared for tens of school going children who had on various occasions encountered the roaming animals early in the morning.
“Residents of Unity Farm and Maryland are forced to return home by 7pm and can only leave after 7am due to the tens of buffaloes that have invaded their farms,” he said.
This came as stakeholders around Lake Naivasha called on the government to act on several institutions that had dug water channels around the riparian land in search of water.
They noted that the trenches had locked out tens of wild animals, mainly hippos from accessing pastures even as water levels continued to drop due to the ongoing drought.
According to Lake Naivasha Boat Owners Association chairman David Kilo, the trenches had left tens of animals marooned on one side of the lake warning that this could lead to starvation.
“The exercise has cut off access to parts of riparian land and in turn the animals are now seeking pastures in nearby estates and farms leading to increased cases of attacks,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara
