Human-wildlife conflict in focus as hyena kills one, injures two people outside university in Kenya

Human-wildlife conflict in focus as hyena kills one, injures two people outside university in Kenya

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Marauding hyenas killed a man and wounded two other people near a university outside the Kenyan capital, officials said on Tuesday, prompting hundreds of students from the institution to block streets to protest what they called a lack of security.

One of the wounded was a student at Kenya’s Multimedia University who was attacked by the hyenas late on Monday on a road that borders the Nairobi National Park in Ongata Rongai. Students from the university disrupted traffic there on Tuesday forcing police to use teargas to disperse them.

“The university is not safe because we are near the national park,” said Ochieng Kefah, a student at Multimedia University, who was among the protesters. “The government should, maybe, put some restrictions on the movement of the animals.”

The injured student was identified as 21-year-old engineering student Kevin Mwendwa, who lost a thumb in the attack.

A team that was sent to investigate the scene of Monday’s attack found body parts of another victim of the hyenas, the Kenya Wildlife Service said Tuesday.

KWS’ Problem Animal Management Unit team promptly put down one hyena and moved to identify any surrounding hyena dens. The carcass was being examined to determine if the hyena had rabies or other diseases.

The man who was killed was Anthony Pasha, whose relatives said he was killed while collecting firewood.

“The hyena came, it attacked him, chased him from the forest, put him down here,” Kaaji Lesian, the victim’s cousin, explained. “He left his firewood exactly where you are seeing them … down there.”

Hyena attacks have become increasingly frequent on the outskirts of Nairobi, prompting KWS to release guidelines on how to react when confronted by the animals. “If faced with a hyena, do not move away until it does and continue facing its direction. Be loud, look aggressive and appear frightening to deter the hyena,” the KWS advises.

The guidelines were released in January, after 10-year-old Dennis Teya was attacked and killed in a field in Kiambu County, north of Nairobi.

  • An AP report
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