Stray hyena prowls Mzuzu University

A stray hyena has been spotted at Mzuzu University (Mzuni) during the nights of April 13 and 14, 2020 a development which has prompted the Department of Parks and Wildlife to deploy game rangers to tame or eliminate the animal.

In a memo from Mzuni addressed to its members of staff, the institution has advised the community to observe caution and refrain from walking during night hours.

Director of Parks and Wildlife, Brighton Kumchedwa, confirmed receiving the complaint about the hyena and said the department is working with the university to trap the animal.

Kumchedwa said the department suspects that the hyena escaped from a nearby forest and that it is looking for food within the university campus.

“We have not seen the hyena but our officers have seen the footprints and we think it might be within. Our rangers are on the site for few options: trapping the animal and releasing it into the forest and if the two fail, then we have to tame it because it is threatening lives of people,” Kumchedwa said.

He added that the department suspects that the hyena entered the campus through part of a fence which has been down for a year.

Kumchedwa has then agreed with the institution that workers including communities surrounding the campus should avoid walking during night hours.

Mzuni has close to 400 members of staff and the campus is surrounded by residential areas such as Lupaso, and Chibavi and Luwinga Industrial Area.

The institution was closed following a directive by the government that all education institutions should be closed as a measure to contain the spread of Covid-19.