Narok, Kenya: A farmer in Narok South is counting losses after his three cows worth about Sh200,000 were devoured by a pack of hyenas that strayed from the Masai Mara Game Reserve on Wednesday night.
The beasts reportedly climbed over a fortified cattle pen at night and feasted on the dairy cows until morning when they were chased away by the owner, John Koini, with the help of his farm workers.
“They jumped over the fence while we were asleep and feasted on the cows. We didn’t hear any commotion. When I woke up in the morning to supervise milking by my farm workers, I saw the hyenas inside the cattle pen. I called the workers and together we managed to chase them away,” said Mr Koini, a farmer from Ololulung’a.
He said they did catch any of the hyenas because they were so vicious, yet they did not have adequate weapons. The beasts disappeared into a thicket.
The locals combed the thicket to revenge the killings., but later abandoned their mission when wardens from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) arrived at the homestead. The wardens prevailed upon the angry villagers to abandon the hunt.
Locals complained that since December last year, they have lost cows, sheep and goats to lions and hyenas and asked KWS to take remedial measures to avoid the human-wildlife conflict.
Wild animals
“We have lost several animals to these marauding wild animals. We don’t want to take the law into our own hands. KWS should move them (animals) away from settlement areas,” said James ole Seur, a teacher. He was among who joined in the hunt for the hyenas.
Koini said he will pursue compensation from the Government and called on KWS to speedily expedite with the matter because the killing has affected his economic base.
“The three cows used to produce six 20-litre gallons of milk every day. The killing has now reduced my earnings and that is why there is need for KWS to compensate me according to the new wildlife laws,” he said.
The Narok Senior KWS Warden William Sang said his personnel will track the hyenas and lions roaming the area and move them to Mara and asked locals to work with his office to minimise the runaway cases of human-wildlife conflict.
For weeks now, cattle keepers in areas bordering the Mara have killed more than a dozen hyenas, claiming that they were responsible for devouring their cattle.
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