Two guards injured in fight for catch with hyena

By KIPCHUMBA KEMEI

Two farm guards were on Wednesday night injured as they fought off a hyena that had snatched the carcass of a gazelle they had hunted earlier in the day.

The hyena ventured into a makeshift house where the guards were sleeping at Eore-Kule in Narok North and dragged the carcass into a nearby thicket.

The guards woke up shortly after the hyena had disappeared and pursued it to the thicket.

 “We grabbed arrows and spears and pursued it to the forest. When we got it, we fought it in a bid to have it relinquish the meat. Though we managed to get back our catch, we suffered injuries,” said one of the guards, adding that “we received injuries from its sharp teeth and claws.”

The hyena later pursued them to their makeshift house.

“We were forced to light a bonfire to keep the beast at bay,” said the guard.

The two were yesterday morning treated at Narok North District Hospital.

The Narok Kenya Wildlife Service Senior Warden Bernard Koruta asked residents neighbouring forests and Masai Mara Game Reserve to be cautious, adding that the biting drought in the area was responsible for the rise in human-wildlife conflict.

Last November, a woman fought off attempts by three hyenas to drag her three-year-old son to a thicket near Mara.

Another woman was last month seriously injured at Aitong near the reserve after a leopard attacked her.

Only last week, two å were injured after they attempted to kill a lion ahead of their initiation.