Crocodile killed following death of child in Siaya County, Kenya.

A Crocodile has been killed after a fatal attack on a child in Siaya County, Kenya, on Saturday 7 April 2022. The Animal is reported to have snatched a three-year-old boy and mauled him to death while his helpless mother looked on. in the East Asembo area, where the family has gone to collect water from Lake Victoria. The same Crocodile, described as over five metres in length, was later killed by local fishermen who caught the Animal by offering it meat attached to a hook and rope, before dragging it from the water and attacking it with pangas and axes. 

 

Crocodile killed by localfishermen in East Asembo, Kenya, on Saturday 7 May 2022. Isaiah Gwengi/The Standard.

The Kenya Wildlife Service has warned against villagers taking such matters into their own hands, asking that instead such attacks are reported so that the problem can be addressed by proffesionals who may be able to relocate problem Animals. Nile Crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus, 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. The number of attacks on Humans by Crocodiles and Hippopotemus on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria have risen sharply in recent years, something which is thought to be driven by a rising Human population encroaching on areas where the Animals live. In August 2020 a 32-year-old woman was killed by a Crocodile while collecting water from the same beach.

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Tanzanian boy eaten by Crocodile in Lake Victoria.

An Tanzanian boy has died after being attacked by a Nile Crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus, on Lake Victoria. Magesa Biseko, 12, of Msuswiga in the Sengerema District of  the Mwanza Region was swimming with friends on Friday 11 October 2019, when he was seized without warning by a large Crocodile and dragged away. His partially eaten remains were found on Sunday 13 October. This is the fifteenth known Crocodile-related fatality in Sengerema District since 2016, with the majority of those killed being children. A number of other attacks have not been fatal, but have still left their victims with life-changing injuries.

A Nile Crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus, on the shore of Lake Victoria in the Mwanza Region of Tanzania. Mwanza Guide.

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 calling for more governmental investment in borehole-drilling projects, which will enable them to spend less time close to the Crocodile-infested waters.

 The approximate location of the 11 October 2019 Msuswiga Crocodile attack. Google Maps.

Conflicts between Humans and animals present a major challenge in conservation work, particularly where animals are prone to attacking Humans or livestock. The most common perpetrators of such attacks in Africa are Crocodiles. Nile Crocodiles are particularly dangerous, with the largest males reaching around five metres in length, and a diet that includes animals such as Wildebeest, Connochaetes spp., and Buffalo, Syncerus caffer, species which it requires considerable strength to subdue. Crocodiles are extremely versatile in their environmental tolerances; they are semi-aquatic, but dwell in a range of habitats from large, fast flowing rivers to small ponds, and have quickly colonised Human-made environments such as canals, dam lakes and even irrigation ditches, creating extra opportunities for conflict with Humans.

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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Fisherman killed by Crocodile on Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria.

A fisheman has been killed in an apparent Crocodile attack on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria. Kennedy Ouma, 22, of Oele Beach in Siaya County, went missing on Tuesday 19 February 2019, prompting a search by officers of the Kenya Wildlife Services, which resulted in the discovery of his partially eaten body three days later.

Residents of Siaya County in Kenya with the body of Kennedy Ouma, 22, who is believed to have been killed by a Crocodile. Isaiah Gwengi/Standard.

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 calling for more governmental investment in borehole-drilling projects, which will enable them to spend less time close to the Crocodile-infested waters. 

The approximate location of the 19 February 2019 Crocodile attack. Google Maps.

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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Schoolgirl feared dead after Crocodile attack in Homa Bay County, Kenya.

A schoolgirl is feared to be dead following a Crocodile attack in Homa Bay County, Kenya. Veronica Achieng’ of Rachong’ Village was bathing in the River Kuja, close to Lake Victoria, on Friday 8 February 2019, when she was seized by the animal. A subsequent search by local people failed to find her, and resulted in a second attack, when one of the searchers, George Odongo, 37, disturbed another (or possibly the same) Crocodile and received a severe bite to his right thigh.

The River Kuja in Homa Bay County. Tiwaine Ole Nchoko/Twitter.

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 calling for more governmental investment in borehole-drilling projects, which will enable them to spend less time close to the Crocodile-infested waters. 

 The approximate location of the 8 February 2019 Crocodile attack. Google Maps.

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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Pregnant woman killed by Crocodile in Uganda.

A woman has died after being attacked by a Crocodile on the island of Lolwe on the Ugandan part of Lake Victoria. Ruth Nyanzira, 35, was attacked and dragged into the lake while collecting water from the shore at about 6.30 pm on Saturday 12 January 2019, and could not be rescued by other villagers who tried to intervene by pelting the animal with stones and metal. Her remains were recovered by a fisherman the next day. Ms Nyanzira was seven months pregnant at the time of the attack.

The location of Lolwe Island on Lake Victoria. Google Maps.

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 calling for more governmental investment in borehole-drilling projects, which will enable them to spend less time close to the Crocodile-infested waters. This conflict has been particularly intense on Lolwe Island, where an eleven-year-old boy was killed by a Crocodile in September 2017, and 26 attacks were recorded in 2018.

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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Kenyan woman killed by Crocodile.

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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Two new species of Cichlid Fish from Lake Victoria.

Cichlid Fish are widespread freshwater Perch (Perciformes), found in Africa, South America, southern North America, parts of the Caribbean, Madagascar, the Middle East and South Asia. There are one of the most diverse Fish, and therefore Vertebrate, families, with over 1600 described species. They are popular in the aquarium trade, which has led to them becoming naturalized in many parts of the world where they are not native.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 2 January 2013, a team of scientists led by Marnix de Zeeuw of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leden describe two new species of Cichlid Fish from the waters of southern Lake Victoria. Neither of these is, strictly speaking, new to science, but neither has been formally described before.

The first species described is named Haplochromis argens, it has appeared previously in numerous scientific publications under the name Haplochromis 'argens' (argens meaning silver) from the 1970s onwards, but has never actually been properly described. Haplochromis argens is a 53-78 mm, slender Cichlid Fish. Males have a blue-to-purple sheen on their upper sides and a yellow-to-green sheen on their flanks, as well as reddish fins with spots on the anal fin. They consume zooplankton in the photic zone (top part of the water that light can penetrate), being restricted to the top two meters at night, but foraging deeper at night. The species was abundant in the Mwanza, Speke and Emin Pasha Gulfs and around Kome Island until the 1980s, but suffered a collapse in population due to the introduction of Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) to the lake, and have not recovered despite the success of measures to reduce the Nile Perch population. The species is also well known in the aquarium trade.

Haplochromis argens; (top) male specimen from Emin Pasha Gulf, (middle) male specimen from Mwanza Gulf, (bottom) line drawing. Scale bar is 10 mm. de Zeeuw et al. (2013).

The second Cichlid Fish is named Haplochromis goldschmidti; it has previously been known as Haplochromis 'dusky argens', and is now named after Tijs Goldschmidt, the scientist who first referred to the Fish, and an expert on the Cichlids of Lake Victoria who has studied both their ecology and evolution, and the extinction event they suffered as a result of the introduction of the Nile Perch. It is similar to H. argens, but darker and with a curved profile. It is known only from Emin Pasha Gulf; it is unclear if the species survives.

Haplochromis goldschmidti; (top and middle) male specimens, (bottom) line drawing of male specimen. Scale bar is 10 mm. de Zeeuw et al. (2013).

Southern Lake Victoria. (A) The known distribution of Haplochromis argens (crosshatched area). (B) Area where Haplochromis argens specimens were collected in Mwanza Gulf. Letters indicate the locations of research stations. (C) Locations where specimens were collected in Emin Pasha Gulf. Circles are for H. argens, triangles for H. goldschmidti. de Zeeuw et al. (2013).

See also A new species of tree-dwelling Fighting Fish from Thailand, A new species of Cichlid Fish from Lake Tanganyika, A new species of Cichlid Fish from Lake Malaŵi, Two new species of Sandperch from the South China Sea and Boney Fish on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.

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