KWS on the spot as hyenas maul boy, 9, to death
Shock has engulfed Nyacaba village in Juja, Kiambu county after a pack of hyenas mauled a nine-year-old boy to death over the weekend.
He was a Grade Three pupil at a private school.
Gideon Nderitu, a teacher in the area, said the deceased identified as Njoroge Mariga is reported to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances from their house on Thursday night when her mother, a doctor, was working.
“The mother was working at night but the father was in the house. The boy sneaked from the house only to disappear in darkness,” Nderitu said.
Mariga’s blood-stained clothes are reported to have been found by quarry workers, who were reporting to work on Saturday morning.
At the scene, gnawed bones were also found and collected for examination.
Residents, led by Mary Muthoni and Bishop Martin Mwaura, regretted that the incident left them in fear as they can no longer walk at night.
Elderly women who go looking for firewood in the bushes, have also expressed fear that unless tamed, the beastly animals would attack them causing more deaths.
In their speeches, residents shockingly reported that three more hyenas were spotted over the weekend roaming in the village.
Worried that Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) officers have been doing less to contain the situation despite making numerous requests to have the animals ejected from the village, the locals agitated for prompt interventions to avert further crisis.
“It is very sad that we have lost an innocent child to wild animals yet we have a government and officers mandated to ensure the dangerous animals remain in the forest. We cannot cope with what we have seen today,” regretted Muthoni.
Innocent child
“We are tired now, we do not want to experience these cases anymore,” said bishop Mwaura.
The incident happened months after a 35-year-old man from the neighbouring Athi village was also attacked in a similar style by about eight hyenas.
Earlier, two more people had been attacked by the same animals reported to be posing a demonic laugh at Witeithie village in Juja and Thika constituency respectively.
In 2017, John Njuguna, 64, was clawed by the animals while grazing his herd of cows at his farm in Komo village, Thika.
The gluttonous scavengers shredded his body to pieces and only bones and parts of his clothes were found after a spirited search.
It is the spate of attacks that prompted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to warn residents to be wary of roaming hyenas.
Residents have regretted that the incident left them in fear as they could no longer walk at night.
They have since appealed to the government to contain the wild animals, saying they continue to cause havoc without any action by KWS.
