ISIOLO,Kenya, Aug 17 – Residents of Isiolo town Tuesday morning were treated to a rare, yet possibly dangerous spectacle after two elephants strayed from the Bufallo Springs Game Reserve in the wee hours of the morning.
Some entrepreneurs who had opened up their shops early morning were quickly forced to close them in fear of their lives as the jumbos strayed into the town.
The incident occurred at around 6:30pm. Learners were also heading to school at around the time and were forced to seek alternative routes for their safety.
” was heading to town to buy breakfast items when I encountered the elephants, I had to quickly keep off…at least 200 meters from the huge animals,” said Francis Ngeera, a local resident.
At least one person, 20 year-old Nicholas Morun was injured during the early morning melee and is receiving treatment at the Isiolo county referral hospital.
The stray elephants which had escaped from the Bufallo Springs Game Reserve left a trail of destruction in its wake including the demolition of a section of a perimeter wall at Isiolo Girls High School.
“We saw the jumbos in the school compound and its presence interrupted learners who were in class, some were in fear of their lives, they were screaming and fearing for their lives. We however thank God our students are safe.” said Sheikh Ahmed Set, the chairman of the Board of management at the school.
The Kenya Wildlife Service Senior Warden in Isiolo County Mohamed Mandera confirmed the incident saying that the elephants had strayed from the Bufallo Springs Game Reserve and, “they have since been taken back to the reserve,”
“The jumbos came out of their protected area due to the ongoing drought situation that has depleted water and pasture, we will however want to assure residents and members of the public that they will not witness such a scenario again…so far, I have already deployed officers to man the corridors through which they escaped,” said Mandera.
Residents are further calling on the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to put additional security provisions to ensure wild animals do not stray to town partuclalry during this drought period.
“These are our animals and we must protect them but KWS lao need to protect us and ensure the animals have access to water and other provisions,” said Daniel Kilemi, local resident.
Similar incidents have been reported across the country throughout the years. According to experts, elephant corridors have been encroached by human settlements resulting to the human-wildlife conflicts.
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