A Kenyan woman is believed to have died after being attacked by a Crocodile on the shore of Lake Victoria on Thursday 23 August 2018. Regina Akinyi, 36, from Dunga Beach in Kisumu County was bathing in the lake at about 8.00 pm local time when she was attacked. Her body has yet to be found but it is thought unlikely that she will have survived the incident.
A Crocodile on Lake Victoria. Ryan Green/Robondo Island Camp Project.
Lake Victoria is home to a large population of Nile Crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus, which are considered to be a high risk to Humans in the area, with frequent stories of fatal attacks in nations around the lake. A rising Human population appears to be fuelling this conflict, with people becoming more dependant on the lake for water, with many villagers on the Kenyan part of the lake calling for more governmental investment in borehole-drilling projects, which will enable them to spend less time close to the Crocodile-infested waters.
Nile Crocodiles are considered to be of Least Concern under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, but are still protected in many countries, due to historic hunting which decimated populations in many areas. However, the rising number of attacks on Humans by the animals has led to calls for regulated hunting to be introduced to control the population.
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