Police in Kilimambogo took more than an hour to contain an irate mob which was after killing a hippo that has been harassing the residents by eating their farm produce in the area.
The hippo which appeared on Tuesday morning in the villages allegedly started to chase after the residents with an intention of harming them.
According to the residents, it has been a routine for the hippo to come in the villages and today was enough since they were fading up with the heinous act of the wild animal.
Martin Njoroge one of the resident said that the hippos have been invading their territory and they called on KWS to come to the rescue but no one was available.
He said that the officers in charge should let the residents to make a meal out of the hippo to feed their family.
Thika east OCPD Daniel Chacha confirmed the incident saying that the Kenya Wildlife Service officers were summoned in the area and shot the hippo five time but did not succumb to death and thus they opted to call for reinforcement from the area police who managed to put it down.
“The KWS could not let put it down after shooting it five bullets thus they called for us to assist the matter which was contained by calming the residents and finally killing the hippo,” said Chacha
KWS chief warden Thomas Kiong’i said that the agitated villagers wanted to kill and feast on the hippo which was illegal according to the law of Kenya.
He said that the hippo might be unhealthy and could have caused fatal damages to the health of the residents.
He said that the hippo was taken to the physicians for the post-mortem to determine if it was healthy for human consumption before they could offer the residents the meat.
Kiong’I however promised to tame the wild animals and no repitition of the same will happen again.