hyena
Hyena
A 14-year-old boy on Saturday night was killed when a lone hyena attacked a village in Boka, Tana River county. Seven others, all relatives, were injured. One was seriously hurt. Four of the injured have been identified as Salatho Bishar, 34, Zainab Omar, 26, Mohamud Abdi, 26, and Mude Gedi, 32.

The deceased, Jirr Abdi, was son of Salatho. The survivors suffered serious head injuries, fractured bones and some lost fingers. The injured were taken to Garissa Nursing Home.

Addressing the press at the hospital yesterday, relatives Mohamud Haji and Ali Ibrahim said the hyena strayed into a goat pen and attacked them. Ibrahim said the commotion and bleating from the goats attracted the attention of one of the victims and when she went to check, the hyena attacked her. She raised the alarm and relatives who came to her rescue were also attacked. Ibrahim said the hyena mauled the victims one by one as they went to the woman's rescue. "Abdi was not lucky. The hyena grabbed him in the confusion and dragged him into a nearby thicket. Everybody was scared and they ran back to their manyattas," he said. "When we went to check on the injured, we realised the boy was missing. No one was ready to risk going outside to look for him.

We found his dismembered body lying in a pool of blood in the morning. The hyena had torn him apart and feasted on his internal organs. His stomach and chest had been ripped open. It was a scary scene." Ibrahim said 35 goats were killed. He urged the Kenya Wildlife Service to compensate them for the loss. Ibrahim also said they want wild animals roaming in the villages to be driven back to the nearby Kora National Park.

A clinical officer at the Garissa Nursing Home said one of the victims was in critical, but stable, condition. The rest are out of danger. The medic said this was the third incident of hyena attack in less than three weeks. Efforts to reach the KWS were unsuccessful. The hyena is still at large.