Fatal lion attack – witness account
LANSERIA - ‘The lioness approached, they continued taking pictures.’
This according to Johannesburg Lion Park operational manager Scott Simpson when he explained a witness account.
According to the witnesses, who were driving behind the vehicle the victim and her private tour guide were in, both the American woman and her private tour guide had their windows open.
“This is contrary to all the signage we put up and as they drive in they are stopped by a member of staff and given a piece of paper and a quick talk about keeping their windows up, but… they had their windows down,” said Simpson.
He explained that witnesses said all the lions were lying down and one lioness started walking towards the vehicle and they were taking pictures of it.
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“She stopped about half a metre away from the vehicle and they were still taking pictures. [The lioness then] lunged at the vehicle and bit the lady through the window,” said Simpson, adding that the gentleman in the vehicle tried to fight the lion off.
At this moment, witnesses hooted and tried to cause a commotion to distract the animal.
“Our guys rushed over immediately and chased the lioness away. Then we called the ambulance straight away,” he said.
A witness who wished to remain anonymous said the rangers who took the victim out of the car were covered in the woman’s blood. He said the incident happened very quickly and that no one had time to react.
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Russell Meiring of ER24 said their ambulance responded to the call. “The woman sustained lacerations and trauma to her face, neck and chin. The man sustained lacerations to one of his arms, he was taken to Life Fourways Hospital,” he said, adding that he could not confirm the cause of death until a post-mortem had been performed.
Douglasdale Police Station spokeperson Balan Muthan said they are working with the United States Consulate on the matter. He said he was not sure if the woman’s family had been notified, nor if she had come to South Africa with anyone.
Simpson said the nine-year-old lioness is probably going to be moved to another one of the organisation’s enclosures that is not open to the public near Hartbeespoort. The park has five lion enclosures, only enclosure two, where the incident occurred, has been closed to the public. Lions in this enclosure have been locked up in their coops where they sleep.
Simpson acknowledged that it was not the first time a tourist ignored the parks’ instruction to keep the windows closed and that they would investigate this matter and see what measures they could put in place. Despite the incident, the park remains open.
Who is to be blamed for this incident, the lion or the tourist? Share your comments with us on Twitter @Fourways_Review
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