Kongelai residents ask KWS to fence Nasolot game reserve

Residents of Kongelai want the Nasolot Game Reserve fenced to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

They said lack of effective measures to deal with the conflict had seen attacks on their livestock increase.

Thomas Ngolenyang, a resident, said hyenas and snakes were the greatest threat, with the latter being common during dry seasons as they search for food outside the park.

"It would be wise for the park administrators to clear grass and bushes along their boundaries with individual farms to deter snakes from crossing over," he said.

The 31-year-old father of one acknowledged that the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) compensates victims of attacks by wild animals, adding that it would be wise to bring such cases down by putting the right preventive measures in place.

He also pleaded with the agency to fence its parks to stop animals getting into the villages where they cause harm to locals and destroy crops.

Since hospitals are far, residents turn to herbalists in case of snake bites.

The herbs are only effective to a small extent since some venomous snakes have very lethal poison that is difficult to deal with using the local concoctions.

"We have elders who treat snake bites from the less poisonous ones, but unfortunately they are often unable to deal with bites from the highly poisonous snakes," said Geoffrey Mosop.

KWS has nevertheless been educating the public on how to handle cases of human-wildlife conflict, with the aim of reducing such cases.

Senior Warden in the region Tom Amulavu said the agency was engaging local residents to ensure the conflicts are drastically brought down.

"KWS is doing much to ensure such cases are brought down but the cases are not so rampant at the moment," he said.