Hyenas Kill Seven Children in Niassa

28 April 2011

Maputo — At least seven children were killed between February and April by hyenas in Mandimba district in the northern Mozambican province of Niassa.

The attacks, according to a police source, are more frequent in the Mitande administrative post and Chicolone village, where farmers and their children prefer to sleep outdoors, preventing their tobacco from being stolen overnight.

The most recent case cited in the Beira daily newspaper “Diario de Mocambique’, occurred in Mitande where a hyena attacked four children of the same family, one of whom died on the spot.

The three other children were seriously injured, and taken to the Mandimba district hospital. But the severity of their wounds makes it likely that they will be transferred to the provincial capital, Lichinga.

The police source said that since the first case was reported, in Kuangua village, where a seven year old was attacked by a hyena, a study was conducted to raise awareness for people to avoid sleeping outdoors, but the communities have chosen to ignore this guidance.

“So far we have had seven deaths and three seriously injured children”, said the police source.

The Police offered three guns to the villages where the incidents occurred for them to kill the hyenas. But to date no hyena has been shot.

Hyenas are generally regarded as scavengers, but there are many reports from across Africa of hyenas attacking sleeping humans, particularly children.

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