NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 31— Rising waters of Lake Baringo are squeezing residents and crocodiles into an increasingly smaller shared space, prompting the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to relocate the reptiles from areas where encounters with people are becoming increasingly dangerous.
The KWS Veterinary and Capture Unit has launched a proactive operation to capture and move crocodiles from the affected areas around Kampi ya Samaki on the western shores of Lake Baringo to KWS-managed parks and reserves with little or no crocodile presence.
The intervention follows more than a decade of rising lake levels that have inundated homes, schools, roads and livelihoods in the area, leaving people and wildlife competing for shrinking habitat
The loss of habitat has now intensified human-wildlife conflict, particularly as crocodiles move closer to areas occupied by people.
The initiative is intended both to reduce the risk to communities and support the reintroduction and repopulation of crocodiles in suitable wildlife habitats.
“For over a decade, residents of Kampi ya Samaki on the western shores of Lake Baringo have watched the lake slowly take over their homes, schools, roads and livelihoods,” KWS said.
“And as the rising waters push people and wildlife into an increasingly smaller shared space, another challenge has emerged: human-wildlife conflict, especially with crocodiles.”
The wildlife agency said the relocation was aimed at creating a safer environment for communities while preserving an ecologically important species.
“It is a delicate balancing act, protecting a powerful and ecologically important species while also protecting the people who have been forced, by the advancing waters, to share its shrinking habitat,” KWS said.
The agency said the intervention would help give communities a safer space to live while ensuring crocodiles remain part of Kenya’s wildlife ecosystems.
KWS said it would continue working with communities to promote safer and more sustainable coexistence between people and wildlife as pressure on habitats increases.
The rising level of Lake Baringo has for years disrupted settlements and livelihoods around its shores, creating growing pressure on both communities and wildlife as available land continues to shrink.
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