• Doctors have said all the four are in stable condition.
• Cheruiyot said the leopard may have strayed from the nearby Rimoi or Kamnarok game reserves.
Image: JOSEPH KANGOGO
Four people have been hospitalised after a stray leopard attacked and mauled them in Cheplambus village, Baringo, on Friday.
The victims are being treated at Eldama-Ravine Subcounty Hospital and Baringo County Referral Hospital-Kabarnet.
Doctors have said all the four are in stable condition.
“They sustained head, hands and legs injuries but they are all out of danger,” referral hospital nursing officer Paul Kandie said on Saturday.
Victim Haron Rotich, 60, on Friday told the Star he tried to fight but was overpowered by the wild animal.
“I was walking in the bush at around 12pm on Thursday to cut rafters to repair my house. The leopard suddenly dropped from a tree and attacked me,” he said from his hospital bed.
Rotich said the leopard broke his left hand.
“I was unable to push it away after it pinned to the ground. It was very heavy,” he said.
Rotich said he screamed for help and people who were nearby came to his rescue. He said he later lost consciousness and woke up in hospital.
Victim Kibet Kurui, 22, who was among those who responded to Rotich's distress call, was injured by the animal in the head and face.
“Within a flash of a second it had already bitten the skin above my left ear. I struggled with it and it released me and disappeared,” he said.
The leopard also left him with deep scratches on the face.
"It nearly gouged out my eyes,” Kurui said.
The animals attacked two more people who were taken to Eldama-Ravine Subcounty Hospital.
Cheplambus chief Samuel Cheruitich said residents had earlier received reports of a rogue leopard that had randomly feasted on people’s goats.
“People decided to comb the bushes to hunt the animal, little did they know it was tactful and dangerous,” he said.
Cheruitich said after pursuing the leopard the whole day, residents managed to kill it using pangas and arrows.
KWS county deputy warden David Cheruiyot termed the incident "unfortunate".
“People ought to have reported the matter to us urgently. It wouldn't have caused such damage,” he said.
Cheruiyot urged residents to be alert, saying more wild animals might be wandering the area in search of food and water due to the dry spell.
He said the leopard may have strayed from the nearby Rimoi or Kamnarok game reserves in the nearby Elgeyo-Marakwet county and Baringo North Subcounty.
Edited by A.N