Five people injured in Tana River leopard attack

KWS senior Warden John Wambua (right) visits a victim of the leopard attack in hospital. Photo: Hassan Barisa

Five people are recovering at Hola Refferal Hospital in Tana River County after they were attacked and wounded by a leopard at a Manyatta.

The five herders, among them a 40-year-old woman, were seriously injured as they tried to rescue their goats from the wild cat that had snatched them from their shed in Gururi village, Galole Constituency early Sunday.

Tana River County Medical director Dr. Oscar Endekwa said the victims are in a better position after receiving treatment. However, Endekwa said that one of the victims who had a deep cut in the head would be taken to an X-ray on Monday.

Tana River KWS senior warden John Wambua, who was among the officials who visited the victims at the hospital, said that two of the said leopards had been killed by rangers. He also said that KWS personnel had been dispatched to the area to protect the villagers and their properties.

“The leopards had injured two more people raising the number of casualties to five but they managed to kill it. The leopard does not have one hind-leg and this could be the reason why it was killing goats which are easy prey since it was not easy to hunt wild animals with three its legs,” he told The Standard.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of county wildlife compensation and conservation committee Osman Wako said that efforts were being made to compensate all the people who had been killed or wounded by wild animals.

Wako urged the county government to assist the committee in creating awareness on how human-wildlife conflict should be resolved. He further told the communities to avoid straying into game parks in order to avoid conflicts with the wild animals.

In 2016, five people were killed by hyenas in Waldena location of Galole Constituency. The victims were compensated by the government with a total of Sh25 million.