By LONAH KIBET

Wild animals struck again in Kitengela, Kajiado County, on Sunday night, slaying twelve pigs and injuring others as a terrified and helpless owner watched.

Rose Boen said they heard loud noises from the pigsty and thought it was the piglets suckling.

The noise became deafening and she rushed outside only find her workers trying to scare away the wild animals.

The pack of six charged at them when they tried to scare them away with a flashlight. Residents said they were dark in colour and could not tell if they were leopards or lions.

“These animals have been our frequent visitors and we always manage to scare them away but this time they came charging at us,” said Boen.

This time round, the owners of the slain animals had to be rescued by neighbours who took them to safety.

Boen was shocked at the bloody sight of her investment. She says she had taken a loan in March and invested in the pig business.

She said this was big blow to her as she was to repay the bank loan with the sale of the pigs to Farmers Choice outlets.

Loss

Boen said her loss amounts to over Sh400,000. She added that she would have lost all her pigs had she not separated them according their feeding habits.

“I was to make my first big profit next month. One pig weighs about 180kg and a kilogramme goes for Sh195, with the twelve pigs that would have been my big breakthrough. I have not even added the cost of feeds, workmanship, veterinary doctor and the medication,” lamented Boen.

She posed: “The banks keep reviewing their interest rates, how am I supposed to explain to them that I can’t make this month’s payment?”

Boen now wants a full compensation by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and asked them to take care of their animals or the human-wildlife conflict would intensify.

A neighbour Rev Jackson Mbuthia said that their lives would be at stake if nothing is done immediately to solve the matter. “We cannot kill the animals because they are our heritage but here the human life is at stake,” he said.

He said reports of wild animals straying in the area were true and they had spotted lions, leopards, elephants and hyenas.

Olosidan sub-location sub-chief Samuel Mbatiany confirmed that wild animals have been terrorising the residents for a long time and appealed to KWS to fence their boundaries to avoid such incidences.

He said they have been co-operative when called upon but they needed a permanent solution.

Fence boundaries

“KWS should fence their boundaries to curb the destruction caused by the stray animals. The people could be their next victims,” said the sub-chief.

The KWS officials sent to the scene refused to talk on camera but said the destruction was caused by hyenas.

They said that plans were underway to discover the areas targeted by the stray animals and have them captured and returned to the packs.

They added that they had collars in place to mark the animals and in future they will identify them by the collar tags.

The asked the area residents to be alert and keep them informed when they see stray animals so that they can be returned to the park.

This comes after angry residents of Kitengela killed six lions that had strayed from Nairobi National Park and killed 28 sheep causing a debate for and against the action from different quarters.