Call for urgent intervention after giraffe and hippo attacks in northern KZN

Residents in northern KwaZulu-Natal are calling for urgent interventions after two people were attacked by wild animals, a giraffe and hippo, in the area on Wednesday.

A 16-month-old child was killed when she and her mother were trampled by a giraffe at the Kuleni Farm in Hluhluwe and a 50-year-old woman was critically injured after she and her family were attacked by a hippo in St Lucia.

Shawn Herbst, Netcare 911’s spokesperson, said reports indicate that the mother (25) and child, who lived in the area, were attacked by an adult giraffe.

“The 16-month-old child was rushed to a local doctor’s office where she was pronounced dead on arrival,” Herbst said. “When a team of operational paramedics arrived on scene they found the mother in a critical condition.

The mother was treated on scene; however, due to the nature of the patient’s injuries and distance to an appropriate hospital, a decision was made to activate the Netcare 911 helicopter air ambulance to fly the patient to a specialist facility.

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The circumstances leading up to the incident would be investigated by the police who were on the scene, he added.

Herbst said the mother was on Thursday in the intensive care unit (ICU) after having suffered polytraumatic injuries.

Police said an inquest docket has been opened for investigation at the Hluhluwe Police Station.

The Kuleni Farm, where the incident happened, did not respond to questions by The Witness at the time of publication.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson, Musa Mntambo, said the farm did not fall under their management.

In a separate incident, a mother, her daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend were attacked by a hippo in St Lucia, northern KZN, on Wednesday afternoon.

Herbst said reports indicate that they were swimming in the resort pool when they were hit with load shedding.

The three exited the pool in complete darkness, walking back to their accommodation when they were confronted by an adult hippo and its baby. Upon noticing the hippo, the trio ran to escape the charging animal, unfortunately the 50-year-old woman was caught and she was bitten and trampled. The daughter and her boyfriend managed to escape.

Herbst said the woman was found to be in a critical condition, and her condition was rapidly deteriorating.

She was taken to hospital by helicopter. Circumstances leading up to the incident will be investigated by the St Lucia SAPS.

In June this year, The Witness reported that a 59-year-old woman died after she was attacked by hippos at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, on the western shore of Lake St Lucia.

In August this year, a 45-year-old woman was injured by a rhino that had escaped from the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife facility which wreaked havoc, damaging fences at six nearby homes.

This is after two rhinos and two lions had escaped from the park.

Community concerned

Msizi Myaka, the chairperson of Okhukho Community Civil Organisation and a livestock farmer in the area, said the community is devastated at the news of the death of a child and the injury of the young mother.

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“When the government fails to uphold the rule of law, we see such incidents happening. We know that animals cannot reason, but the animals are managed by people who can reason. So, in such a situation, there is a human element. Let this be a warning that if there is such negligence that leads to people being injured, let us also hear of the consequences that management face,” he said.

Myaka recalled numerous incidents where people in the area were attacked and killed by wild animals that should be confined inside the fences of the game reserves in the area.

He said many of the people are never compensated for their ordeals.

He said they have a list of about 1 000 people who have had their livestock killed by wild animals that escape from game reserves.

He said their pleas that the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Hluluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve be fenced appropriately have fallen on deaf ears.

He added that they need urgent interventions or else people will continue to be killed by wild animals