Anxiety as thousands of bats invade Maragua Police Station
Tens of thousands of bats have invaded the Maragua Police Station in Murang'a County and efforts by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to chase them out have failed.
KWS officers have fired bullets at them, officers at the station have tear-gassed them and locals have lit bonfires to heat them out as they scream at them, but all this has come to naught.
Murang'a County Chief Warden Laurence Chege said the invasion requires more research to find a solution.
"We will liaise with the department that specialises in bird control. Maybe they will give us tips, though bats fall under the category of strange animals," he said.
Bats are flying mammals that use sound to navigate, a trick called echolocation. They rely on this ‘sound mapping technique’ to detect obstacles in flight, find their way into roosts and forage for food.
Officers at the station said the bats are a nuisance, an eyesore and a subject of negative speculation.
"I have heard some residents accuse some of us serving at the station of being the owners of these bars. They say that they are there to protect some of us through mystic powers," he said.
In turn, the officer said some at the station believe that some neighbours are the owners of the bats.
"Besides the high-pitched noise that these bats make, they litter our compound with droppings. We do not hang our clothes out in the open to dry after laundry owing to the droppings," said a female officer.
One of the many seriously injured bats after KWS officers fired live bullets at them on on November 15, 2022.
Murang'a South police boss Alexander Shikondi said they don’t know "why these animals chose us to be the host".
He said he has been consulting on how to drive them out of the station.
"We have advised our officers to find [a way of living] with the menace as we shop for a solution. It is encouraging to see KWS partner with us in search of a solution, but, unfortunately, so far we are still stuck with them," he said.
Murang'a Deputy County Commissioner Gitonga Murungi said a local committee will be formed to search for a solution.
"It is a neighbourhood crisis and we must own it. We will now brainstorm with stakeholders and table options ... Together, we will find that missing solution," he said.
He added that "we will first start by pruning some of the trees that they perch on. They use the branches and the leaves as their habitation. We are also cognisant of animal rights and we will get a solution that meets the threshold".
Mr Shikondi said some people had suggested that burning tyres at the feet of the trees where the mammals perch will disperse them.
"But we cannot just set about lighting plastic and tyre bonfires in a police station with suspects enclosed in limited ventilated cells,” he said.
“We cannot also dare to do that in such a densely populated area without offending environmental laws. Yet, these bats’ continued stay in our neighbourhood is unwelcome."
Area politician Charles Mwangi on Monday volunteered to sponsor area youths to chase the bats away.
