This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 29, 2020, Moses Omondi, a 35-year-old mechanic from Kisumu County, made headlines after killing and eating a hyena in the Seme Sub County.
According to eyewitnesses, Omondi, also known as 'Obote', had been leaving home early in the morning to hunt for menial jobs, but on that fateful day, he decided to take on a different kind of challenge.
Armed with a machete and a club, Omondi managed to hunt down a troublesome hyena that had been a thorn in the flesh of residents in Kogilo village.
What left residents amazed was that Omondi went ahead and skinned, cooked, and feasted on the carcass of the wild animal shortly after posing for a photo with it.
However, when Omondi noticed that the Kenya Wildlife Service officials were tracking him, he disappeared, leaving behind a huge chunk of hyena meat, some of it on the roof of his house where he had begun drying it, while some on the ground within the compound.
The animal's skin hanging on a rope behind his house raised suspicion that the man could have slaughtered the animal.
Obote's shocked parents, who raised the alarm, were trying to come to terms with two realities - how the man managed to face and kill the dreaded animal, and how he chose to skin and feed on it despite its scary appearance.
"The man is never very approachable, and we could not prevent him from doing whatever he wanted to do with the carcass," said Ochola Hongo, Obote's father.
The Kenya Wildlife Services has launched a manhunt for Omondi, who is accused of violating the Wildlife (Conservation and Management) Act, which prohibits the hunting of game animals without authorization.
According to the Act, any person who hunts a protected animal or game animal without a license is guilty of a forfeiture offence.
The ban on the sale of game meat in Kenya, which was introduced in 2004, has led to concerns over poaching, forcing game meat outlets to restrict themselves to selling crocodile and ostrich meat.
