Elim — A communal farmer in Elim lost several sheep and goats after they were attacked by what is described as 'mysterious' animals.

The incident took place during the early morning hours of Monday. When New Era arrived at the scene, dead sheep and goats were scattered all over in their shed. Some had blood sucked out of them, while others were disembowelled and some had gapping chest wounds. The farmer estimated his total loss at N$20 000.

Petrus Eelu, a resident of Iihanguti, a village in the Elim constituency in the Omusati Region said he and his family were still sleeping when he heard their goats bleating in terror. Eelu ran to the shed and saw two 'animals' that looked like a breed of dog, never seen in the area, attacking a sheep.

"I started shaking a bush in the shed, hoping to scare the animals off, but instead they started chasing a goat that was headed towards me. I jumped out of the shed and ran home to wake my son up," Eelu related.

Eelu said he and his son returned with a car and a gun, only to find the creatures feeding on one of the sheep. "My son fired some bullets in their direction and they ran away. We later retured to the camp in the morning and found one dead ram. I thought that was the only animal that was killed, but when I walked around the shed I discovered six dead sheep and five goats. All six sheep were dead while some of the goats were barely alive," explained Eelu.

Eelu and a group of residents tracked the 'mysterious' animals, but eventually lost them. Last year a calf and some goats were also killed by so-called mysterious and nocturnal beasts at a village near Iihenguti, also in the Elim constituency.

Villagers say stories about mysterious beasts were unheard of in the village until last year's incident.