There was a scare on Wednesday in Kinyana village in Meru county, central Kenya, after villagers believed there was a lion hiding in a flower hedge.
The supposed lion was spotted by a farm hand at a homestead who raised the alarm. The authorities were notified and wildlife wardens summoned.
It turns out the feared big cat was a picture of a lion printed on a plastic shopping bag.
Pictures of it have been doing the rounds on social media:
Funniest story!
Apparently, the good people of Mutiribu, in Kiangua, Meru called @kwskenya called on the spotting of a lion hiding in the hedges, fearful for their lives.
Turned out to be a @CarrefourKe paperbag!
Punguzeni jaba!!
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/3KEbk8P7A7— Naomi Mutua 🐾❤️ (@AKenyanGirl) May 5, 2022
The area chief, Cyrus Mbijiwe, told the BBC that the owner of the homestead had last week returned with avocado seedlings in the plastic bag after attending a farmer training session in Muranga town, about 140km (87miles) away.
On arrival, she decided to place the seedlings "in a place where they wouldn’t dry up" and ended up placing the bag between her house and a flower hedge.
On Wednesday afternoon, the farmhand who was returning from cutting grass for livestock noticed what he believed looked like a lion and raised the alarm.
The homestead is about a kilometre from the Mount Kenya National Park.
“Residents came to see what was happening. Many were convinced it was a lion because you couldn’t go near. I also arrived and saw what looked like a lion although I had doubts,” Mr Mbijiwe said.
The homeowner was called and she explained details of the shopping bag and its content - to the relief of the gathered villagers
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has confirmed that its wardens were deployed to the homestead and said it will issue a detailed statement later.
Source: BBC
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