hyena

The body of a middle-aged man was found on Tuesday morning in Rongai, appearing badly dismembered

The Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) released a statement on Wednesday evening signed by the Corporate Communications Manager Ngugi Gecaga, indicating that the man could have been attacked by a hyena, and not lions as presumed by residents

KWS have said that they are aware of reports making rounds on social media that a lion attacked and mauled a man in Rongai area, and explained that he could have been attacked by a hyena.

KWS officials said that residents in Rongai filed a report with them on Tuesday morning June 28, 2016 about the incident, after which they visited the site.

They found that there was the body of a 42-year-old man that was badly dismembered at the place, but could not confirm that he was indeed attacked by lions, since the animals were not there.

A team from KWS, as well as police and community members were present when the body was collected by authorities and taken to City Mortuary.

KWS released a statement on Wednesday June 29, saying that a post-mortem would be carried out to indicate whether the suspected hyena attacked and killed the victim, or whether he was already dead before his body was mauled by the animal.

Police are investigating the matter.

An earlier report on  in local press  indicated that the victim, whose identity was not disclosed, was attacked at 9pm on Monday as he was on his way home at Kandisi area in Ongata Rongai.

Area residents had apparently complained of rogue lions that had been roaming the area and causing them to live under fear of attack.

They said the animals had strayed from the Nairobi National Park, and were seen in various places in the area at different times during the night.

Gruesome photos of a badly dismembered body of a man in gumboots accompanied the report, and captioned as those of the victim in question.

Incidents of lions being found loitering outside the park situated in the adjacent Langata area have been on the rise lately.

In February 2016, six lions escaped enclosure and wandered into neighbouring settlements and the Langata estate across the road from the park.

A man was injured by one of the lions and was compensated with KSh 2 million and had his treatment costs footed by the KWS.

Being so close to the central business district and a major tourist attraction for Nairobi, the Kenya Wildlife Service blamed people encroaching on the reserved land as reasons why the animals were escaping from the enclosure.

Other than that, the ongoing construction of the Standard Gauge Railway through the Nairobi National Park is said to be the main cause for the wildlife migration from their habitats.

Source Tuko

daimawakenya@gmail.com