Footage has emerged of Kenya Wildlife Service rangers shooting a stray hippopotamus responsible for killing a man in Maralal, Samburu County on Wednesday, July 23.
The KWS rangers were involved in a shooting battle for close to an hour as they tried to kill the hippo which was found in a pool of water.
KWS and residents were engaged in a three hour search for the animal before firing numerous shots most of which failed to hit the hippo.
The deceased was walking home at around 10 pm in the company of a friend when the animal attacked them but his ally managed to escape.
Residents noted that the hippo had been sighted in the village a number of times in the past three days before attacking the man.
A KWS official urged the residents to report cases of wild animals being sighted in residential areas to prevent deaths.
"If there is a wild animal seen in the area, we urge residents to give us a report so that we can decide on the best way to deal with it.
"But you should not remain silent because we heard that the hippo was here for three days and we know it is an aggressive animal," noted the official.
Samburu Central Deputy County Commander Abdi Kadir confirmed the hippo had attacked a man at around 9 pm and urged residents to take extra caution.
"Police visited the scene, the body of the man was transferred to Maralal County Referral Hospital awaiting post-morterm.
"The area is covered by ranches and forests, when they sight any dangerous animals moving around within the village they should report to the police or KWS offices," explained Kadir.
The remains of the hippo were dragged by KWS officials to their local base.
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