A 12-year-old boy was severely injured after being attacked by a buffalo while herding in Ramada village, Tana River County on Sunday.

Police said the boy was looking after his family’s goats when the buffalo attacked him at around noon.

“He suffered a deep abdominal cut causing the intestines to protrude out. He also had a deep cut on the right thigh,” a report from the Garsen police station said.

He was rushed to the nearby Garsen Health Centre in preparation for referral to Malindi Subcounty Hospital for specialised medical treatment, police added.

Kenya Wildlife Service officers visited the scene in the afternoon and were set to issue a follow-up report on the incident.

Wildlife attacks are common in Tana River and counties neighbouring the Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks.

Sunday’s incident came just a month after a 60-year-old man was killed by a stray buffalo in Voi Town, Taita-Taveta County, which neighbours Tana River County to the south.

The man had a hearing impairment and was attacked by the stray buffalo on April 15.