Village in panic as hippo kills two boys

Bodies of the two children who were killed by a rogue hippo in Got-Agulu sub-location, Siaya county being loaded into a police vehicle. [Isaiah Gwengi, Standard].

For long, Bondo and Rarieda sub-counties, residents have been living in fear because of the wild animals that roam around their homesteads.

Incidents of people being trampled by hippos or being attacked by crocodiles are common.

On Wednesday, two children, aged between eight and 12, were killed by a hippo at Got Agulu sub-location in Bondo sub-county.

Witnesses said the first attack happened at Siungu beach where eight-year-old Maurice Amani was attacked while bathing. Ambani was bathing when all of a sudden a vicious hippopotamus pounced on him.

The boy was taken to Got Agulu sub-county hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Separately, another boy, Obonyo Adiwa, was also attacked by a hippo – less than a kilometre from where Amani was attacked.

The killings have put Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on the spot with the service being blamed for laxity in controlling the wildlife.

A KWS officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the increase in wildlife-human conflicts to the soaring water level in Lake Victoria. Erick Nyatumba, the vice chair of Siungu beach told The Standard a number of people have been killed and crops destroyed by the rogue animals.