Man-eaters of Baringo: Crocodiles leave trail of injuries, deaths as lake floods villages

Kevin Longonop playing at his Kambi Samaki home, Baringo County, on June 23, 2021. He was attacked by a crocodile while fetching water in April 2020. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

There could probably be nothing worse than an unexpected attack by a wild animal. Yet, this is what many of the people living near Lake Baringo have had to go through or witness over the years.

It is even worse when the victims of attacks by crocodiles cannot access basic first aid, let alone treatment, because there are no health facilities in some of the remote areas and the few that are available are ill-equipped. Some have survived but there are those who were not lucky.

In villages near one of the freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley, you lose count of the number of families whose members have been attacked by the amphibious animals. Some are still nursing injuries while others died. Those who are lucky survive tell of their ordeals in the powerful jaws of crocodiles.