Lives and limbs lost to crocodile attacks on the banks of Kenya's rising Lake Turkana [View all]

COMMON NAME: Nile Crocodile
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Crocodylus niloticus
TYPE: Reptiles
DIET: Carnivore
GROUP NAME: Bask (on land), float (in water)
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 45 years
SIZE: 16 feet
WEIGHT: 500 pounds
SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN:


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/17/crocodile-attacks-kenya-lake-turkana-rising-water

‘It feels like death is certain’: lives and limbs lost to crocodile attacks on the banks of Kenya’s rising Lake Turkana

Seven deaths and 15 injuries have been recorded in the past year as crocodiles move their habitats closer to human settlements

By Carlos Mureithi in Turkana. Photographs by Esther Sweeney

The rising water levels in many of Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes have displaced tens of thousands of people and submerged homes, schools, farms, hospitals and infrastructure.

Researchers have attributed the rise to various factors. The same 2021 report said the primary explanation was increased rainfall caused by the climate crisis. It also linked the phenomenon to tectonic movement in the Rift Valley.

Another report that year, by the UN environment programme, said climate change may make the flooding of Lake Turkana more frequent over the next two decades.

Elijah Chege, county warden for Turkana at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), said the overflow had brought crocodiles closer to human settlements. The animals have now established new nesting and hunting grounds along the altered shorelines, which has increased the likelihood of attacks on people, he said.