Photo/DAVID MACHARIA John Killer the elephant moments after it was captured and loaded onto a KWS lorry for onward transfer from Laikipia to Aberdare National Park.
By DAVID MACHARIA newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, April 22 2012 at 22:30
Posted Sunday, April 22 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
- Elephant accused of causing two deaths the latest being that of a 32-year-old man three weeks ago
Both the old and the young knew about “John Killer”.
Mothers in Gatundia and Muhotetu areas of Laikipia West District invoked the name to instil fear in children. A child crying at night would immediately stop when told the noise would attract John Killer to their home.
John Killer, a bull elephant, was loathed by villagers because it was one of the most hostile wild animals in the area. People hated the animal and it equally hated them.
Among the human deaths recorded in Laikipia, John Killer was accused of causing two, the latest being that of 32-year-old Mwai Karoki three weeks ago.
Tilling farm
The elephant was being chased out of farms by a group of young men at about 9am when it came across Mr Karoki who was tilling his farm. It attacked him, and efforts by the chasing group to pelt it with stones in a bid to save Mr Karoki were unsuccessful.
The death of Karoki led to a demonstration by villagers, who accused the Kenya Wildlife Service of failing to protect them against wild animals.
KWS Laikipia West warden Eric Aduda admitted that John Killer had caused bad blood between his officers in the area and local people.
“We have more than 200 elephants in un-fenced Laikipia, with a large herd in Lariak and Mutara. But this one (John Killer) is mentioned in the majority of reports of wildlife-human conflict,” Mr Aduda, who was with his deputy, Mr Bajila Kofa, said.
But how is John Killer identifiable among the 200 elephants? Mr Aduda explained that it had certain features, the most outstanding being that one tusk was shorter than the other.
A resident, Mr Simon Kanyotu, said “the animal is hostile and does not get scared by noise from people when it gets into a farm or raids a homestead in search of grain stores”.
Another resident, Mr John Ndung’u, who acted as a game scout for KWS for five years, said there were many cases of grain stores being destroyed by John Killer around Gatundia and Muhotetu areas.
In the past, KWS officers also killed any wild animal that killed a human being. This seems no longer the case and John Killer was the first in Laikipia to benefit from the new policy of moving such an animal to enclosed areas away from human beings instead of killing it.
Trailing and capturing John Killer was not an easy task as the animal first disappeared to Mutara area from Gatundia, some 30 kilometres away from where it had killed Mr Karoki.
“It was not easy to capture it immediately due to rough terrain and heavy rain. The aim was to get him in an area that the lorry could access”, explained the KWS’ Capture warden, Mr Patrick Mulandi.
After a week the animal was spotted inside Lorian Farm, not far from Gatundia. A small KWS aircraft was summoned from Nairobi to help in guiding the animal to an open area where it was darted and loaded onto a lorry and ferried to Aberdare National Park.
News of the capture of John Killer spread like bush fire in Gatundia and Muhotetu, the two areas that had suffered most from it.
Hundreds of people came out to have a look at the Elephant at Gatundia trading centre. Many said they wanted to confirm that the captured animal was actually John Killer. They climbed on the truck to ensure one of the tusks shorter.
The route from Gatundia to Nyahururu was lined up with curious people, some eager to see the animal that had terrorised people for so long.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment