Zim girl killed by hyena

A hyena has killed a six-year-old Zimbabwean girl and attacked three men in Taguma village outside Beit Bridge, police have said.

The incident occurred Friday, 9 September, when Belinda Mzilikazi, of Taguma Village, was accompanying her mother to fetch water from a stream close to their home. She had wandered off to play some 200 metres away.

The local police spokesperson, Insp Bulisani Bhebhe, told Mirror that the animal leapt at the girl from the tall grass. Her screams attracted her father, who rushed from their home and found the animal gnawing on the girl’s face. “When the father arrived at the scene, the hyena had already devoured part of the girl’s face and she was dead,” Bhebhe said.

The girl’s father, Boyna Mzilikazi, now joined by his younger brother, Passmore, and a neighbour, Godfrey Mukwasi, battled the animal with their bare hands and sticks until it finally ran into the bush. “Boyna Mzilikazi was seriously injured and he sustained a deep cut on his right arm,” said the police spokesperson.

The following night, police said, two men, Forget Marufu and Frank Mutema, were walking in the same village when they were attacked by a lone hyena, believed to be the same one which had killed the six-year-old.

Marufu and Mutema sustained injuries on their lower limbs and legs and they were treated at a local hospital.

The department of Veterinary Services and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials have since visited the village to try and track down the animal. "Hyenas are nocturnal animals which are seldom seen in daylight and attacks on humans are very rare," Bhebhe said.

Last year in November, another five-year-old Zimbabwean girl from Mukanganwi village outside Beit Bridge narrowly escaped death when a hyena mauled her as she slept at a shrine where her mother was attending a church service in the village. During the same month, an 80-year-old local man from Bvurungwa village was also attacked and killed by a hyena.

News - Date: 09 September 2011

Mashudu Netsianda

Mashudu Netsianda is our correspondent in Beit Bridge, Zimbabwe. He joined us in 2006, writing both local and international stories. He had worked for several Zimbabwean publications, as well as the Times of Swaziland. Mashudu received his training at the School of Mass Communication in Harare.

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