Kenya: Reports of wildlife straying into human habitats are on the increase as a pack of hyenas mauls two people.

Police said on Tuesday that a pack of hyenas killed two people in a village just 50 kilometers east of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

The hyenas, estimated to number around 20, mauled a man on Monday in the village of Kamuthi, near the industrial town of Thika, as he was returning from work at a quarry, according to police.

According to police, a second man who was with the victim “narrowly escaped by the skin of his teeth.”

On his way home from Komu quarry, a 29-year-old man was mauled to death by the cackle of about 20 hyenas in the Kamuthi area. By the skin of his teeth, the victim’s counterpart escaped.

Residents discovered a fresh human skull in one of the village farms just 24 hours after the first attack by hyenas.

“Police and Kenya Wildlife Service officers visited the scene and confirmed the incident, where a skull, scattered bones, and torn bloodstained clothes were discovered,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said, adding that hyena footprints were discovered nearby.

Reports of wildlife straying into human habitats in Kenya have increased in recent years, as cities expand into ancient migration and hunting grounds, putting the animals under increasing pressure.

After straying from its home in Tsavo National Park, a leopard wandered into a house in southeastern Kenya on December 17 before being rescued by rangers.

Another incident occurred in July when a lion strayed from its natural habitat in Nairobi National Park and into a densely populated neighborhood south of the city.