Residents of Nyacaba, Maraba, and Witeithie villages in Juja, Kiambu County, armed with machetes, spears, bows, and arrows, banded together on Sunday to hunt down hyenas that had become a thorn in their flesh.

Residents battled torrential rains and moved to track down the animals just a day after suspected hyenas mauled a nine-year-old kid to death.

PHOTO | COURTESY Hyenas 

The group chastised the government for what they saw as passivity in driving the creatures back into the forest and descended on a wide, undeveloped area thought to be the wild animals' hideout to smoke them out.

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Residents stayed in the area for more than five hours, attempting to trap and kill the animals. However, the residents only saw one of the hyenas, which bolted into the bush when they saw them.

PHOTO | COURTESY Hyenas 

After the fruitless pursuit, the townspeople promised to continue the hunt until the animals were either killed or returned to the forest.

"The government has been sluggish in responding to our distress calls," said people Sadi, led by Francis Ngunjiri. Children have been mauled, and our livestock has been attacked."