A hyena. [Photo/telegraph.co.uk]
A three-month-old baby girl died after being mauled by a hyena while sleeping outside their house in Raya village in Sankuri location, Garissa Sub-County.
The mother says 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.
Speaking to the press outside the Garissa mortuary, Abdullahi Sheikh, the father of 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.
According to the locals, their efforts 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. The boy was sleeping in their house at the time of the incident.
Cases of human-wildlife conflict in the area have been on the rise because of drought and famine.
Meanwhile, a herder from Empakasi area, Kitengela is counting losses after over 10 sheep of his were mauled by a marauding lion increasing the number of sheep attacked to 50 in a week time as human-wildlife conflict escalate.
According to the homeowner, they had a commotion at around 3am but did not intervene for fear of being attacked.