More than 300 women in Mnazini area, Tana River County stripped naked and charged at a group of scientists who were conducting studies at a primate sanctuary.
The 12 were conducting a census of the endangered Tana River red Colobus monkey when the women stripped naked and charged at them.
The biologists were forced to abandon their equipment and flee during the attack in 2001 when the area women were protesting against a plan to turn the area into a nature reserve for the primates.
More than 2,000 families were to be affected as the government had planned to turn their ancestral land into a national park.
Public stripping by women is considered a curse in many Kenyan communities.
One of the researchers, Mr Ronald Mwangangi said they were attacked by naked women in hopes of driving them away from the local land.
The residents said, by flashing their private parts, the women not only insult their targets but reminded them where they had come from.
“This was to curse us. They said we were going back to the womb. You can be educated but that sort of traditional practice has got a lot of influence on you,” said Mr Mwangangi.
“When you see African women stripping, that is a very serious matter,” said Islam Juma, a teacher who grew up near in Tana River.
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