Leopard kills man, attacks local farmer

KAAPMUIDEN – “I am too traumatised to speak about my ‘son’s’ death.” These were the words of well-known Onderberg farmer Mr Danie van Graan (60) after the brutal death of Mr Mageka Ntuli (30) whom he had raised as his own and who was killed by a leopard on Tuesday.

Van Graan barely escaped the same animal’s claws when he went looking for the predator after the event. Ntuli was a professional hunter and Van Graan’s right-hand man. He died from his injuries on Wednesday morning.

Van Graan told Lowvelder that he was extremely traumatised by the events. “I have two daughters and I never had a son. I raised him as my own and trained him as a professional hunter.” Van Graan is the father of well-known model and actress Tanya van Graan.

Ntuli had lived on Van Graan’s farm since he was six years old. He started out working in the garden, before Van Graan trained him to hunt.

“I wanted him to take over Engonyameni Hunting Safaris from me. We walked this road together and I was so proud of him.”

Ntuli had apparently gone looking for an impala to shoot for the pot when he encountered the leopard. It remains unclear who found him or to which hospital he had been taken.

Van Graan allegedly alerted authorities and went searching for the animal. When he found it, he was also attacked, but miraculously escaped serious injury and managed to kill it. He would only confirm that it was indeed exceptionally large.
• Leopard attacks in the Lowveld are relatively common. In 2012 a leopard attacked a predator expert at the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. Lowvelder reported at the time that Mr Gerrie Camacho and game ranger Mr Brandon Mandy were fitting a tracking collar to the animal at Thaba Tholo Private Game Reserve near Lydenburg when it attacked.

It bit through Camacho’s left hand and bit both his left and right arms. He also sustained injuries to his face. Comacho managed to shoot the animal during the incident and spent about two weeks in hospital.

He says attacks without provocation are extremely abnormal. “It can happen, but 90 per cent of the time there is a reason.” He listed many possible causes such as the animal being injured, wounded, hungry or old and desperate or cornered. He says in South Africa leopard attacks are less frequent, but worldwide and in places like India, they usually attack due to loss of their habitat.
• Three people have been killed by leopard in the Kruger National Park in recent years. The first incident took place in 1998 when a game ranger was attacked and killed next to a game viewing vehicle. In 2001a woman was jogging in Skukuza’s personnel village when an injured leopard attacked her and in 2003 a child was killed, also in the village.