Puzzle of Lamu villages invaded by snakes
Lamu County KWS Senior Warden Mathias Mwavita acknowledged he had received reports about the snake invasion in Dide Waride and Manda-Maweni.
Salim Guracho was busy attending to a newborn calf at his home in Dide Waride, Lamu, when he noticed a reflection.
On taking a closer look, he saw a huge snake slithering towards one of his cows in the sheds and hit it with a club.
This was the fourth snake he had killed in two days.
Mr Guracho’s experiences reflect those of many other residents in Dide Waride and Manda-Maweni villages that have been invaded by snakes.
With the help of neighbours, he said, he had killed three cobras and a puff adder.
One snake was killed near a borehole in his homestead after it chased a woman fetching water. Two snakes were killed inside his house after it was found hiding in the roof.
Residents now live in fear.
They want the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to transfer the snakes far away from residential areas.
Mr Guracho said the KWS had failed to respond to their cries.
Dide Waride is mostly occupied by pastoralist communities.
Villagers say cobras and puff adders enter their houses probably in search of water due to the ongoing drought.
Retired Dide Waride senior chief Abdi Bocha said villagers are living in fear, not knowing what lies in the deepest corners of their houses.
Parents must escort their children to school every morning and pick them up in the evening to protect them from snakes.
Mr Bocha said despite numerous calls to the KWS to help them address the issue, the agency had not responded.
“Snakes are everywhere. Sometimes we find them crawling into our houses. Others are spotted hiding near boreholes and wells and nearby bushes. The KWS should act fast and drive these snakes away from our village,” Mr Bocha said.
Khadija Galgalo said locals cannot freely collect firewood and water, work on their farms or even graze their livestock anymore.
“It’s scary seeing huge snakes loitering freely from forests to residential areas. They’re everywhere. You never know where the snakes are hiding waiting to pounce and bite. It’s scary,” said Ms Galgalo.
Fredrick Otieno, a quarry worker in Manda-Maweni village, Lamu West, said venomous reptiles had found a home in the mines.
Lamu County KWS Senior Warden Mathias Mwavita acknowledged he had received reports about the snake invasion in Dide Waride and Manda-Maweni.
Mr Mwavita urged patience, saying his office would send a snake expert to the affected areas this week to help assess the situation, trace and capture the reptiles and take them back to their right habitat.
“I suspect a family of snakes has established a base in Dide Waride. I have sent officers to the ground to assess the situation. We’ve also assigned a snake expert to see whether we can capture or drive the snakes away,” he said.
He asked people or groups with an interest in rearing snakes in Lamu to come out so that the wildlife agency can license them to undertake such work.
“Rearing snakes can be a good income earner because it’s a tourist attraction. We’ve seen groups in places like Watamu doing the same and getting good money,” he said.
“We welcome private individuals or groups here in Lamu to also follow suit. We shall give licences to those interested in carrying out such initiatives.”
Other villages that have reported snake invasions in Lamu include Kiwayu, Mswakini, Bar’goni and Sheemgambo.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that bites by venomous snakes can cause acute medical emergencies involving severe paralysis that may prevent breathing, cause bleeding disorders that can lead to fatal haemorrhage, cause irreversible kidney failure and severe local tissue destruction that can cause permanent disability and limb amputation.
Children may suffer more severe effects, and can experience the effects more quickly than adults due to their smaller body mass.
The WHO says snake bites are a neglected public health issue in many tropical and subtropical countries. About 5.4 million snake bites occur each year, resulting in 1.8 to 2.7 million cases of envenomings (poisoning from snake bites).
In Africa, there are an estimated 435,000 to 580,000 snake bites annually that need treatment.
