Two injured in North Imenti after elephant invasion

A herd of seven elephants walk from a farm at Burgret village in Kieni on August 5, 2014. Two people sustained serious injuries after marauding elephants invaded two villages in North Imenti, Meru County, over the weekend. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION

What you need to know:

  • The four elephants also destroyed a house in Thuura village.
  • The elephants are suspected to have strayed from the Lower Imenti Forest.
  • They also attacked a 12-year-old boy after they invaded Gaitu village.
  • Meru KWS Station Deputy Warden Jimnah Pertet said the rogue elephants were successfully taken back to the forest.

Two people sustained serious injuries after marauding elephants invaded two villages in North Imenti, Meru County, over the weekend.

Thirty-year-old Japheth Munene was gored in the stomach by one of the four elephants that also destroyed his house in Thuura village.

Mr Munene is admitted at the Meru Level Five Hospital, where he was rushed for treatment by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers who had responded after the animals invaded the villages.

The elephants, suspected to have strayed from the Lower Imenti Forest, also attacked a 12-year-old boy after they invaded Gaitu village.

The boy was admitted at the Chaaria Mission Hospital.

KWS personnel used a helicopter and shot in the air to drive away the animals.

The task proved difficult as excited villagers milled around the elephants, scaring them.

The officers shot one of the elephants that injured Mr Munene at Thuura while the rest of the herd was driven back to the forest.

DRIVEN BACK TO FOREST

Meru KWS Station Deputy Warden Jimnah Pertet said the rogue elephants were successfully taken back to the forest.

“We want to assure Thuura, Nkabune and Chaaria residents that the situation has been completely contained,” said Mr Pertet on phone.

He noted that those who were injured by the animals would be compensated by KWS depending on the magnitude of their injuries.

“We are liaising with the doctors at the hospitals where the two victims have been admitted to so that the extent of their injuries can be determined and they will be compensated adequately in line with the law,” he said.

Mr Pertet asked residents living near forests to remain alert as this was the migrating season for elephants.

Mr Silas Kiogora, a Thuura resident said the rogue elephants had terrorised residents and destroyed crops after straying from the forest.

BROKE FENCES

“The animals broke through the fences of our farms destroying bananas and other crops. Our losses run into thousands of shillings,” Mr Kiogora told Nation.co.ke.

He said they were living in fear that the elephants would come back and urged KWS to intervene and ensure that the animals were contained.

Mr Kiogora however said they hoped that KWS would keep away the elephants from the village as they feared encountering the animals while on their daily errands.

Last week, residents of Nchiru in Tigania West Sub-County living near the Lower Imenti Forest held demonstrations to protest rampant cases of elephant invasions that have left them counting huge losses.

The Lower and Upper Imenti forests in North Imenti are considered as an important breeding area for elephants.