This archive report was first published on 13 January 2020.
On Saturday morning, a stray hippo was spotted in Amerikwai village, Busia County, causing widespread destruction in the area. The animal, which mostly lives in water, was seen at around 6am outside the home of Florah Senedwa, a local resident.
Ms Senedwa raised the alarm, and the public responded swiftly. Armed with weapons, the residents chased the hippo to Lwero village, where they cornered and killed it. The villagers then descended on the animal with knives, pangas, and machetes, chopping off its limbs while it was still alive.
Police officers from Adungosi Police Station arrived at the scene but watched helplessly as the villagers cut up the hippo and shared its meat. Bahati Geoffrey, a resident, explained that the villagers had to make the hippo powerless before killing it. He also expressed frustration that the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) did not show up to assist.
“There are many hippos in Busia, the earlier KWS starts hunting for these animals the better. Otherwise we will kill them all,” said Bahati. The regional KWS boss, Rose Malenya, stated that the hippo problem in Busia can only be solved from the agency's headquarters in Nairobi.
