Unknown animal kills dogs, goats, in Mirugi Kariuki estate

In the last four months, residents of Mirugi Kariuki have been living in fear over fears of a wild animal that has been on the loose in their residential areas.

However, in the last three weeks, residents have been waking up to find the carcass of dead dogs and goats that appear to have been mauled.

On Monday last week, the residents’ fears were confirmed after Njogu Ndagutha woke up to find three of his goats eaten by an unknown animal.

“I usually lock my sheep in a shed. On the morning of Monday this week, when I woke up to go and open for them, nilipata ni kama mlango imechimbuliwa na upande wa chini. Upon entering the shed, I found three of my sheep dead with their guts out,” he says.

Mr. Njogu says that this is a devastating loss to him.

“The three goats were worth sh. 35,000 and I was dependent on them for meat and milk. This has set me back very much financially,” he laments.

John Maina, the Nyumba Kumi chairperson in Mirugi Kariuki attests to the fact that indeed this issue has been a thorn in their flesh for the last three months.

“For the last three months, we have had sightings of what appears to be a leopard. It just started out as rumours but sometime last week, we woke up to a dead dog in our estate. Upon close inspection, the dog had claw marks on the skin,” he says.

The chairperson says, “The incident that took place earlier this week at the residence of Mr. Njogu Ndagutha has confirmed our worst fears. The dog that had been killed in a similar manner to that of Mr. Njogu’s sheep.”

John says that the situation is very dire in that neighbourhood.

“We have over four schools in this area and every morning as early as 5am, we have pupils who sometimes walk all the way to school. Parents have sometimes resulted to having their children go to school at later hours when the sun has risen and this means that their children get to school late,” he says.

He adds, “There is a section that has tall grass in our estate and according to some of the residents they have spotted the animal there. However, we are helpless and cannot go hunting for this dangerous animal since it can easily attack us. We have complained to the Kenya Wildlife Service to come to our rescue, but we have never received any assistance to date,” he laments.

According to the Lake Nakuru National Park Deputy Director David Oyugi, he is aware of the matter and their priority is working towards making sure the residents are safe.

“We have put up several traps in the area in a bid to catch the animal. However, it has taken so much time to be able to trace it because of its unpredictable pattern of behaviour,” he says.