A hyena. A three-month-old baby died in Garissa after being mauled by a hyena. [Photo/mentalfloss.com]
A three-month-old baby girl died on Thursday after being mauled by a hyena while sleeping outside their house in Raya village in Sankuri location, Garissa.
The mother of the baby said that her daughter was sleeping next to her outside their grass thatched house when the hyena sneaked in the homestead, snatched her and took off.
Abdullahi Sheikh, the father to the deceased, said the incident occurred in the night and that they were only awakened by the baby’s cries, but by the time they traced the baby the wild animal had already inflicted serious wounds on her.
“By the time her mother woke up, the hyena was a few meters away running with the child on its mouth. She chased the animal and was later joined by other family members,” said Abdullahi at the Garissa mortuary.
Abdullahi said that efforts by the locals to have to have the issue of human-wildlife conflict addressed by the local KWS office have so far not succeeded.
“We are living in constant fear of attacks from wild animals. Most worrying is the fact the hyenas have now started attacking humans and donkeys. If something is not done urgently then many more people will lose their lives,” he said.
The incident comes barely two weeks after a two-year-old boy was killed by a hyena in Dertu village, Ladgera constituency.