Four injured in attack by a hyena in a Tana River village

Four men were seriously injured after they were attacked by a hyena in Wayu vil-lage, Tana River County on Tuesday evening.

According to Wayu Chief Ali Godana, the four had set out to hunt for the hyena after it attacked one person earlier while he was grazing.

It was while on the search that the hyena pounced on one of them from behind, biting him on the foot.

"The others panicked when they heard their colleague scream but decided to engage the animal to save their brother," the chief said.

However, their weapons were not good enough to inflict serious injuries on the animal which fought viciously, inflicting deep injuries on them. They fled to safety while the animal disappeared into the bushes.

KWS

Chief Godana called on Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers to help contain the animal, fearing it will come back and cause more harm.

But the officers instead asked Administration Police officers to kill the hyena as they could not respond quickly due to logistical challenges.

The police officers later hunted down the hyena and killed it while on its way to the village to hunt.

The four victims of the attack have been admitted to the Hola District Hospital.

Wayu MCA Sadam Hussein termed the incident as unfortunate, coming ahead of Idd celebrations, and called on the State to deploy game rangers to the area to help when such emergencies arise.

He also raised concerns over failure by KWS to compensate people who have suffered after attacks by wild animals. He warned that if such issues are not ad-dressed, residents will arm themselves against the wildlife.