Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers were last evening forced to shoot dead an elephant in Mosiro, Kajiado West.
The elephant which had earlier killed a man went rogue and charged at the KWS officers who tried to relocate it from the area forcing them to kill it to prevent more fatalities.
County Warden Vincent Ongwae confirmed the incident adding that the jumbo would have attacked and killed the officers or other residents had it not been brought down as it became completely agitated and was attacking anything on its way.
“Our officers had to put down the elephant in Mosiro area which had earlier killed a man and turned against the officers who tried to relocate it by charging at them. It is unfortunate it had to be brought down but we had no other option to avoid more fatalities,” said Ongwae.
Human-Wildlife conflict is a common occurrence in Kajiado as the county is surrounded by three national parks; Nairobi, Amboseli and Tsavo.
Wild animals often come into contact with humans especially during prolonged seasons of drought as they change their migration patterns in search of water.
Ongwae revealed that KWS had put in place strategies to prevent human-wildlife conflict such as de-siltation of water pans and drilling of boreholes along the migratory corridors so as to prevent wild animals from coming into contact with humans.
By Rop Janet
