Hyena attacks, injures girl (5) at shrine

Herald Reporter
November 19, 2010

A five-year-old Bikita girl narrowly escaped death when a hyena mauled her as she slept at a shrine where her mother was attending a Johane Masowe Apostolic sect service in Mukanganwi communal lands.

Vimbai Gomba of Mukari Village, who is in Grade One at Gumunyu Primary School, lost part of her nose and her eyes were injured in the attack.

Her mother, Mrs Anna Gomba, was reportedly praying a short distance away while the children slept.

Worshippers ran to her rescue when they heard the child screaming for help.

She was at Silveira Mission Hospital where, apart from treatment for the injuries, doctors wanted to make sure she had not contracted an infection from the hyena.

A Bikita-based veterinary officer, Mr Felix Ndodyei, who attended to Vimbai soon after the attack, said the girl’s condition had continued to deteriorate though she was on medication.

"We immediately ordered her parents to take her to Silveira Mission Hospital since we suspected that she might also have contracted rabies."

What is worrying is that Vimbai’s face continues to swell though doctors have been attending to her and operated on her," he said.

The vet officer said they had ruled out rabies and were trying to determine the cause of the swelling.

Villagers in parts of Gutu and Bikita have been on high alert for marauding hyenas that are mainly targeting livestock.

In Bikita, the hyenas are reportedly domiciled in the Birivenge mountain range.