17-year-old survives vicious attack from lioness while herding 150 cattle in Kajiado

A 17-year-old boy is nursing serious injuries after he survived a lioness attack in Kajiado County.

Locals said the incident happened in Imbirikani area in Kajiado County. Following the attack, the teenager was rushed to Imbirikani Level Four Hospital for treatment.

The lioness, with her cubs in tow, had attacked one of the one hundred and fifty cows that the boy was herding.

"I was injured on the right hand and on the back. The lioness had attacked one cow so I was trying to save the cow from her claws," he told Citizen Digital.

According to residents, the area has seen vicious attacks from wild animals in the recent past.

"In the last five months alone, 11 lions have been killed by locals, with ten goats killed during the same period," residents noted.

Meanwhile, Kenya Wildlife Service's Senior Warden Amboseli National Park Paul Wambi added that plans are in place to prevent such attacks in future.

This comes as Parliament opened a public inquiry into human-wildlife conflict unpaid claims of over Ksh.5 billion last month.

The inquiry will look into widespread cases that have not been compensated as far back as the nineties, with the committee seeking to get a solution that will be beneficial to affected Kenyans.

This is in spite of a fund that was set aside in 2013 to cater for compensation of victims of those affected by the conflict.

Wildlife PS Sylvia Museiya admitted the incessant delays in the compensation of the victims of human-wildlife conflicts.

Speaking when she appeared before the committee, Museiya disclosed that the Treasury has only disbursed monies to the kitty three times since its formation in 2013, with the ministry disbursing Ksh.958 million for compensation of the victims in the last financial year.