The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has launched an operation to relocate crocodiles from Lake Baringo amid rising cases of human-wildlife conflict driven by swelling lake waters.
In a statement released Monday, August 31, 2026, KWS said residents of Kampi ya Samaki have borne the brunt of the crisis for more than a decade.
“For over a decade, residents of Kampi ya Samaki on the western shores of Lake Baringo have watched the lake slowly take over their homes, schools, roads and livelihoods,” the agency stated.
According to KWS, the rising waters have forced people and wildlife into an increasingly smaller shared space, leading to more frequent and dangerous encounters, especially with crocodiles.
To address the threat, the KWS Veterinary and Capture Unit has begun moving crocodiles from areas where their proximity to people has become dangerous to KWS-managed parks and reserves with little or no crocodile presence. The intervention is aimed at supporting reintroduction and repopulation of the species while creating a safer environment for communities.
KWS described the operation as a difficult conservation challenge.
“It is a delicate balancing act, protecting a powerful and ecologically important species while also protecting the people who have been forced, by the advancing waters, to share its shrinking habitat,” the statement said.
The wildlife agency said it remains committed to protecting wildlife while working with communities to promote safer and more sustainable coexistence between people and wildlife.
