Syokimau, Kenya – Kelvin Mwangi never expected his Tuesday to begin like this.
It was just after 4:30 a.m. when he heard a strange commotion from his living room. Half-asleep, he thought maybe something had fallen—or perhaps, worse, someone had broken in.
But what he found was far from anything he could have imagined.
“A hyena was just standing there, in my house,” Mwangi told reporters later that morning, still visibly shaken. “It looked me straight in the eye. I froze.”
The animal, believed to have strayed from nearby open land bordering the Nairobi National Park corridor, had slipped in through the back door-which had been left open for ventilation. In its short stay, the hyena knocked over furniture and left scratch marks across the floor.
Mwangi, who lives in a gated section of Syokimau, immediately called for help. Neighbours responded quickly, banging on metal gates and calling the authorities.
“I’ve lived here for eight years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Mary Achieng, a neighbour. “We see monkeys sometimes, yes—but a hyena in someone’s living room? That’s wild.”
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) arrived on scene within an hour. Using a tranquilliser dart, they managed to sedate the animal safely and remove it without further incident.
In a brief statement, KWS confirmed that the hyena was healthy and has since been relocated to a secure sanctuary. Officials are still trying to determine how far it travelled and what led it to enter a residential area.
The incident has reignited concerns over growing human-wildlife conflict, especially in areas like Syokimau, where rapid urban development is shrinking animal habitats.
“Encroachment is a serious issue,” said a senior KWS officer, who requested not to be named as they were not authorised to speak on record. “Animals are losing their natural corridors. It’s not that they’re suddenly becoming bold—it’s that they have nowhere else to go.”
Experts say such incidents are rare but could become more common as the city expands.
Residents are now being urged to lock doors and windows at night, especially those living near undeveloped land.
Mwangi, thankfully unharmed, says the experience has changed how he sees his once-quiet neighbourhood. “I’ll never sleep with the door open again,” he said. “Not after this.”
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