Harare -
A guide who was escorting tourists around Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park died after a lion attacked him early on Monday.
Quinn Swales, 40, from Harare, died after a lion savaged him in the centre of the park.
Swales was employed by Camp Hwange, a photographic safari company, and was registered with Zimbabwe’s Professional Hunters and Guides Association.
Other guides in the area say Swales would have been carrying a hunting rifle of at least .375 calibre to protect his clients and himself.
His employers are still not sure what happened.
“His body has gone to Bulawayo for a post mortem, and this unfortunate incident is in the hands of the police and the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
We are also speaking with the clients who are back at the camp in the park,” said an employee of Camp Hwange from the company’s Victoria Falls office, who declined to be named.
“We don’t know the sex of the lion, or whether or not it was known, and we don’t know how Quinn died,” he said.
Trevor Lane, a well-known wildlife personality in Victoria Falls, said: “We don’t have any firm details yet, but this guide would not have taken any chances. He was professional. I suspect it may have been a lioness, with cubs nearby, and that they came across each other by surprise. I understand the animal went for his shoulder and probably hit the jugular. The clients, and I think they were from New Zealand, radioed the alarm back from the vehicle which was near- by. As far as I know, they were all walking at the time of the attack.”
He said a helicopter was sent as soon as the distress call came in, but nothing could be done.
“It picked up his body. This is a highly professional company. Brilliant operation. We will find out more accurate details in the next day or two.”
Wildlife sources in Bulawayo said they understood a male lion, known by some locals as Naka, had lunged at Swales and bitten his shoulder.
“This lion had by all accounts been behaving aggressively for some time. It was even attacking safari vehicles,” said another tour operator from Hwange.
“As far as we know, he (Swales) bled to death,” he said.
Last month, the 12-year-old lion Cecil was shot at night and wounded by Walter Palmer, an American hunter, on farm land near Hwange National Park.
Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, returned early the next morning and finished Cecil off with his weapon of choice, a bow and arrow.
The saga of Cecil’s death attracted international attention, and three people have been charged in connection with the hunt, including a professional hunter, Theo Bronkhorst, 52, who was Palmer’s guide on the hunt.
David Carsens, one of the shareholders of Camp Hwange, was still in the national park gathering information about the tragedy late on Monday.
One of Swales’s associates who helped train him and who asked not to be named, said: “Quinn was a very good guy. He was obviously going to be a great guide.
“I have seen him in the bush and he was very good.”
A professional hunter said: “We don’t yet know if he managed to fire a shot at the lion, or whether he was overwhelmed before he could shoot.
“This is terrible, and it is quite a rare event.”
Another safari operator who works within the Hwange National Park said: “I do not go on game walks because I am terrified of lions, but tourists want to walk with wildlife.”
Hwange National Park has about 500 lions, according to game counters.
Independent Foreign Service