Hyenas maul 10-year-old boy

by Arusha Times Correspondent

December18, 2010

Police in Manyara region have cautioned parents against leaving young children to take care of livestock alone after another kid was mauled by hyenas in Kiteto district last week.

The regional police commander Mr.Parmena Sumary said the boy, a standard one pupil, was apparently overpowered and mauled by a pack of hyenas while herding livestock at Partimbo village.

The deceased has been identified as Paulo Daniel (10). Residents of the area said he was attacked by the animals at around 6 am when taking his family's livestock for an early morning grazing.

After the death, police in the region once again pleaded to the parents not to leave young people look after their herds for fear of being attacked by wild animals which have caused havoc in parts of the region in recent months.

The death of the boy comes only months after two adult men were killed by a pack of hyenas near Mbulu town and followed another shocking deaths of three boys who were attacked by lions while herding cattle in neighbouring Simanjiro. Their remains, reduced to only fragments of bones and one complete head, and pieces of clothes were found after two days of search by the distraught villagers. Two of the victims belonged to one family.

During this week's tragedy, family members of the deceased started looking for the boy after the livestock he was herding returned home.

A search mounted by the villagers found his remains which were buried in the same spot where the attack took place.

Repeated calls by the police in Manyara region not to leave youngsters alone to look for cattle in the bush have apparently fell on deaf ears as the job is normally entrusted to boys, according to Maasai traditions.

Some of the wild animals are believed to have strayed into the villages from the adjacent Tarangire National Park which is off bounds for people who would opt to track down the killer beasts.

Several other cases of animal attacks on livestock have been reported in recent times in both Kiteto, Simanjiro and Babati districts which border the three districts. Some people have also been trampled to death by elephants.

One case was reported in April this year when two people were killed by elephants in Hanang district and another reported to have suffered the same fate at Vilima Vitatu in Babati district.

Wild animals often strayed into villages in search of water and food because of prolonged droughts.

The livestock grazers have also been accused of exposing themselves to wild animals by migrating into or closer to the protected areas.