Four people are nursing injuries after they were mauled by a stray leopard in Jila village of Ganze subcounty, Kilifi, on Monday morning.
Two who were seriously injured have been admitted – one at Mariakani subcounty hospital and the other at Kilifi county referral hospital.
Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire urged the Kenya Wildlife Service to either kill the animal or drive it back into Tsavo National Park.
“This area has suffered attacks from wild animals. KWS should act promptly and the KWS headquarters in Kilifi county should be relocated to Ganze due to its proximity to Tsavo parks and Arabuko Sokoke forest,” Mwambire said.
Bendera Karisa, who sustained injuries on her stomach, right thigh and left leg said she heard a commotion inside the pen where she keeps her livestock at around 5am and went to check.
“I got attacked by an animal which I could not identify. The animal entered the cow pen and started attacking the livestock. The animal was attacking a goat and then turned to my cow. When I tried to chase it, it jumped on me and bit me on the stomach. It stepped on my leg and scratched my right thigh. I reeled there in pain and as people came to my rescue the animal vanished into the bush,” she said.
She lost a cow and three goats. One cow was injured.
One of those who came to Bendera’s rescue was her mother Sidi Karisa. She was attacked on the buttocks.
Bamba subcounty hospital medical superintendent Diyo Njole said the four were attended to at the facility before two were referred.
The leopard also mauled and killed a dog after a failed attempt to attack a boy who was preparing to go to school.
Fondo Kazungu who is admitted at Mariakani hospital awaiting surgery said he was attacked on his bicycle on his way to work.
Officers from the KWS who visited the area confirmed the animal was a leopard.
“We have managed to follow the footprints to a swamp where it drank water. It must have a problem. Either it's sick or very old hence it cannot hunt in the forest. We could not trace its current location because the bushes are so thick,” an official told the Star in confidence.
Edited by R.Wamochie
