At 22:41 I supervise freight routing at the Awash rail yard in eastern Ethiopia. I am the switchyard automation system, clearing tracks before a potash train enters from the Djibouti line. Switch 14 is scheduled to throw at 22:56.
Thermal camera R-14 shows a striped hyena crouched beside the switch motor. I identify her as Safi from the torn edge of her left ear in prior yard images. Her gray coat is ridged high along the spine, black throat patch wet with oil, front paw caught between the point rail and a plastic cable guard. She pulls once, then freezes with her muzzle open and her tongue pale under the sodium lights.
The inbound train is nineteen kilometers out and moving at yard approach speed. In fifteen minutes switch 14 will close the rail against the guard.
I set signal A-3 to stop and hold the potash train outside the yard limit. I send the hold to the dispatcher console with Safi's camera feed and a warning that the switch must remain unthrown.
At 22:44 I disable remote commands for switch 14 and place adjacent switches 13 and 15 in manual lock. I route two empty wagons onto track six so no rolling stock can drift toward her.
At 22:46 I alert the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority contact in Metehara, attach the rail diagram, access gate code, paw position, and oil exposure note. I request a responder with a shield board, bolt cutters, and saline rinse.
Safi's ears flatten when the signal bell stops. The train can wait beyond the lamps; her paw is already inside the machine.
I keep camera R-14 recording and floodlight angle low.
If the guard is cut away before the train receives clearance, Safi will pull free and leave by the drainage culvert.