People around Lake Naivasha have been warned over increased cases of hippo attacks due to a rise in water level, which has diminished pastures for the animals.
Kenya Wildlife Services advised residents of Kihoto estate, which has flooded, to relocate.
KWS has recorded six deaths caused by hippos around the lake in the last two months.
Issuing the directive, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said that lake levels had risen by over 2.5 metres in the last two months, leading to the current crisis.
Addressing residents of Kihoto, Kinyanjui said that this had left the animals in stress, leading to frequent attacks targeting human beings.
“We fear that there could be more hippo attacks and we are asking all the affected people to move to safer grounds,” he said.
The governor expressed his concern over an outbreak of cholera in the estate that is home to hundreds of flower farms, following the flooding of latrines.
He said they were working with the national government to assist the 22,000 people affected by the floods in the estate.
“We are asking the national government and flower farms to assist us in supporting the needy families in Naivasha who have been affected by the floods,” he said.
KWS Warden in charge of Naivasha Dickson Ritan said that the floods had affected all lakes in the Rift Valley, with Naivasha been the hardest hit.
He said that a rise in the number of illegal fishermen against reduced pastures had contributed to the current cases of human-wildlife attacks.
