Eight buffaloes electrocuted in Lake Nakuru Park

Aberdare National Park

Buffaloes at Aberdare National Park.

Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group

Eight buffaloes were electrocuted on Friday near the Wildlife Club of Kenya in Lake Nakuru National Park.

In a statement, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesman Paul Jinaro said the unfortunate incident occurred after the buffaloes came in contact with the high voltage power line that was lying low.

According to Mr Jinaro, after the Kenya Power official responded to the digressed call, they established that the electrocution occurred because wooden cross arms carrying 33 high voltage broke due to rainfall in the area.

"To deter similar occurrences, the Kenya Power company replaced the wooden cross arms with a metallic one," he said.

A 2021 wildlife census by KWS showed that Lake Nakuru had the third highest population of buffaloes, after the Mara ecosystem and the Tsavo.

The total number of buffaloes in the country was 41,569 according to the 2021 count.

Mara had 11,604 (28 per cent), and Tsavo and Nakuru came in second and third at 19 and 15 per cent, respectively.