Hyena terrorises Chibombo

Hyena terrorises Chibombo

Chibombo Dec 15/14, ZANIS —————- A lone hyena is terrorising villagers in Mbosha and surrounding villages in chieftainess Mungule’s chiefdom of Chibombo district where it has killed a number of goats and cattle.

The hyena has been in the area since late last year but has intensified its killing of livestock mid this year and has marked its territory covering eight villages.

A farmer in the area, Eddie Chisebe, told ZANIS in a telephone interview that the animal has caused sleepless nights among villagers as they try to protect their livestock from being attacked.

Mr Chisebe said many people were just staying indoors for fear of the beast, adding that farming activities have been disturbed by the hyena.

He explained that despite efforts to protect their livestock, the hyena manages to snatch and kill domesticated animals that include dogs.

“We have tried to do our best but in vain and so far many goats and a number of cattle and dogs have been killed. We are appealing to the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to quickly move in and help us track this animal and kill it to save the few domestic animals we are remaining with,” he said.

Mr Chisebe added that the biggest challenge was that the hyena was only heard making noise in the night and only very few people had spotted it during the day as it hunts.

He named the villages the hyena is terrorising as Mbosha, Shamasamu, Mulela, Mbongolo, Mubamba, Shimanimamba, Fumpa and Ndendula including the stretch from Mwembeshi Bridge up to Munyeu near Mwembeshi Prisons along Lusaka/Mumbwa road.

He further said some farmers were even planning to be sleeping with their cattle and goats in the same house for fear of losing all their cattle which include oxen they use for farming.

Mr Chisebe also feared that the hyena may one day come across a human being who it will kill and eat if nothing is done quickly to shoot it down.

He, however, said ZAWA was already aware about the presence of the hyena and villagers were just waiting for the action from the authority.