Rising waters have driven crocodiles into villages and homes, displacing tens of thousands and prompting a week-long special operation to trap and relocate the biggest reptiles
Crocodiles are invading people’s homes due to catastrophic floods pushing the beasts from their habitats in Kenya.
Tens of thousands of residents near Lake Baringo in the Rift Valley have fled the area to escape the largest deluge of rain in half a century. Wildlife officers are working tirelessly in the area to trap and relocate the reptiles which are putting lives at risk.
Scientists have linked the dramatic rise in water to extreme rainfall driven by climate change as reports of repitiles near towns and villages soar. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has launched a week-long campaign to remove the most aggressive, heavy crocodiles from areas where families live, fish and send their children to school.
As the lake expands, it has pushed Lake Baringo’s estimated 200-plus crocodiles onto shrinking dry land, bringing them into villages and fishing zones.
Locals say attacks on children have increased and livestock has been devastated, while fishing nets are being ripped apart, Modern Ghana reported. “Catching them is not easy, they are very shy… it is difficult to lure them… and dangerous,” said Dominic Mijele, the KWS veterinary officer leading the operation.
Officers reportedly said the crocodiles have grown wary after repeated captures at the same site, with several reptiles seen criss-crossing at the edge of the net. Still, KWS said about 13 crocodiles have already been trapped and transferred to a protected park.
As a result, a target of at least 30 captures by the end of the operation – focusing on animals weighing 200kg (440lb) or more, has been implemented. KWS officers recalled how one mid-sized crocodile finally slipped into the trap, prompting a vehicle hooked to the net to reverse and drag the reptile from the water, briefly lifting it above the lake before it was hauled ashore.
The croc thrashed and twisted furiously as staff battled with the net for almost 30 minutes to secure it, as per Modern Ghana. “It is the one that has been disturbing me at my home every day,” said one woman fishmonger in the crowd.
Mijele said: “We fear that when the El Niño rains come, this water will continue rising and flush the crocodiles into the village.” El Niño is currently active, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and NOAA confirmed.
Furthermore, scientists warn it is being “supersized” by climate change and has a 69% chance of becoming a historic, record-breaking “super El Niño” by winter. Satellite imagery analysis of Copernicus Sentinel and NASA Landsat data indicates Lake Baringo has expanded by around 70% since 2010, now covering about 234 square kilometres.
“It is a great relief, they have terrorised us for a long time… they destroy our fishing nets every day,” Dorcas Kiplagat, 35, said about the traps targeting crocodiles.But others worry moving the crocs could hit tourism.
“It is enough now… what are we going to show foreign tourists?” one middle-aged local said.
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