A woman was mauled to death by hyenas on Wednesday morning as she returned home from the market, the latest case of human-wildlife conflict that has so far claimed three lives and five casualties in Juja South, Kiambu County, in less than a year.
Nancy Njoki Thuo, 52, a food vendor, was heading to her house to prepare food for the day for her customers when she was attacked at around 7am.
''Sadly, she passed away immediately and we are liaising with Kenya Wildlife Services(KWS) to help track the hyenas in the area because it has been an ongoing concern,’’ Juja Sub-county police commander Michael Mwaura told Nation on phone.
Area residents led by Ms Hellen Mukami and Allan Mburu told reporters that the incident could have been avoided if local leaders had been active in pushing the KWS to track down the hyenas which have been roaming around.
“Our leaders have turned a deaf ear to our pleas. This is not the first incident as the hyenas have attacked and killed other villagers including children. Others have been left nursing injuries. Authorities must now act because we are tired of complaining with no actions taken,” she said.
Early this year, a 10-year-old Dennis Teya was mauled to death by hyenas in the neighbouring Gwa Kigwi village.
They observed that failure by quarry miners to refill excavated areas and clear bushes has attracted wild animals. They said quarries provide safe breeding and hiding abodes for the hyenas.
Most of the affected areas in Juja South are Nyacaba, Witeithia, Maraba and Kabati in Juja, Kiambu County. Early this year, KWS said that it has so far trans-located 12 hyenas from Juja, in efforts to mitigate the human-animal conflict in the area. In a statement, KWS says it had promptly deployed the Problem Animal Management Unit, which strategically placed traps, initiated hyena captures and mobilised a veterinary unit to translocate and relocate the hyenas from the human-dominated area.
“Regrettably, Juja Sub-County in Kiambu County has witnessed a surge in human-hyena conflicts, resulting in the tragic loss of human life. KWS extends condolences to the affected families,” KWS then said.
