Danger lurks as swelling Lake Victoria takes hippos closer to homes

Before now, families living in a village in Homa Bay County had never seen hippos roaming in their compounds and destroying property despite the village being on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The elderly in Sikri Village, Lambwe Ward, narrated how in the past they saw hippos swimming at a distance in the lake and did not bother about their menacing presence.

But they are now alarmed at the turn of events after the animals started invading homes in large numbers, destroying crops and injuring villagers and livestock.

Even children going to school early in the morning have reported narrowly escaping death after crossing paths with the hippos.

Sikri village is a peninsula – piece of land projecting into the water from a larger landmass.

In the last two years, climatic changes appear to have taken a toll on life in the village, affecting the geography of the village.

The village has been carved into a sort of island after being cut off by the rising water starting a year ago.

In the past, accessing the village from the nearby Ndhuru trading centre was easy. Residents would walk to the trading centre or use a motorbike or take a ride in a car.

Currently, they depend on an old wooden fishing boat operated by one of the residents to cross the flooded section between Ndhuru and Sikri village.

The rising water from the lake has filled an entire field that used to connect Ndhuru and Sikri.

Besides affecting movement, the water has flooded farmland and displaced hippos from their original habitat.

Watch helplessly

The hippos have frequently been straying from their habitat in the lake and end up unexpectedly in homes.

Villagers watch helplessly as the hippos feed on crops unlike in the past when they would only be seen in the reeds on the shores of the lake.

Hippos are active in water during the day when they cool their massive bodies from high temperatures.

At night, from about 7pm, the animals leave their habitat in the lake to feed on vegetation in the village.

The animals are dangerous to humans both on land and in the water.

The ferocious animals kill by mauling their victims and tearing into their flesh with their large mouths and massive teeth.

Lambwe ward representative Paul Adika is concerned that the government has not addressed the human-wildlife conflict affecting the communities.

In the neighbouring Usao village, several families have lost their loved ones to hippo attacks.

Victims who are lucky to get away with their lives end up with permanent scars on their bodies after a nasty encounter with the animals.

Because of the presence of the dangerous animals, families in Sikri are forced to lock themselves in their houses when darkness sets in.

No one can dare move out at night even if a family member falls sick for fear of being mauled by the animals.

Failure by the authorities to intervene and protect villagers from hippo attacks have contributed to huge economic losses to the villagers.

The population of the hippos in the lake has not been established.

Ms Elida Akongo is a recent victim. The 58-year-old was home one night when hippos broke her fence and got into her compound.

"I was asleep when I heard an unusual movement in my compound. I woke up to check what it was.  I saw some hippos roaming in my compound, near my house. I could not do anything because it would have been risky for me to get out and attempt to scare them away," said Ms Akongo.

She was lucky that her goats managed to run away after the hippos charged at them. The animals, however, fed on her crops before retreating to the lake.

Ms Akongo is now planning to buy land far away from Sikri village, where she has lived for 40 years.

"I wanted to sell one of my parcels of land to be able to move to a different area, which is safer. No one has, however, shown interest in buying my land because of fear of being attacked by hippos," Ms Akongo said.

Hippo menace

But some farmers have been battling the hippo menace and trying to protect their crops from destruction.

Mr Calvince Mingo once lost all the sweet potatoes he had planted on his farm after the crop was trampled on by hippos, which typically weigh between 1.3 tonnes and 1.8 tonnes each.

He is among a group of villagers who have been confronting the animals at night to scare them back into the lake.

During the day, Mr Mingo is busy on his farm, weeding and spraying pesticides to keep his vegetables and tomatoes safe.

But when dusk sets in, he is forced to protect the vegetables and tomatoes from the hippos.

"We use flashlights to scare hippos away. Whenever they see light, they run away," says Mr Mingo.

Villages have been contemplating taking matters into their own hands by attacking and killing the hippos.

Some villagers have even suggested that they should poison the animals to get rid of them.

"The hippos are putting our lives at stake. Residents have been telling us to attack the animals with spears," said Mr Mingo.

Cases of hippo attacks have been reported to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), prompting officials to visit the village to assess the damage to crops and property.

Last year, the community began a project to protect school children from possible attacks as they cross the flooded section between the village and the nearby school.

Mr Arthur Mbara was picked as the chairman of the team tasked to offer protection to the children.

The idea of building a causeway over the flooded section is still in the initial stages, more than one year after it was mooted.

Mr Mbara said financial challenges have delayed the project.

"We were thinking of putting stones on the water where our children and villagers can safely cross over to the other side of the village," said Mr Mbara.

Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti had promised to ensure a causeway was built between Ndhuru and Sikri in response to the plight of the villagers in Sikri.

A contractor was identified and taken to the site. Some culverts were delivered at the site where the crossing point was to be constructed, but little else has been done.

Human-wildlife conflict

Homa Bay County KWS warden Millicent Odundo sent a team of officers to some of the affected families for a public sensitisation meeting on human-wildlife conflict.

The officers told the community in Sikri to think of ways of controlling the movement of hippos from the lake to their farms.

Farmers were told to dig trenches around their farms to prevent hippos crossing over.

"It is strange that you keep chicken that costs less inside the house and leave your livestock that costs more in the open for the hippo to attack them. Ensure you put a strong fence around the compound to prevent hippos from moving in," one of the officers told the community.

KWS has deployed individuals who were recruited recently to engage villagers and sensitise them on how they can protect themselves from wildlife attacks.

Besides hippos, villagers in Sikri report that monkeys are becoming a menace in their farms and homes.