Pretoria - A family group celebrating the mother’s birthday at Farm Inn wildlife estate, east of Pretoria, ended up witnessing a savage attack on their tour guide apparently by a panther that had managed to escape from its enclosure into the bigger enclave at the weekend.
The family watched the large black cat jump on to the young ranger’s back, sink its teeth into his face and skull, and maul him.
“When we saw it attack we froze. And when he started screaming for help we rushed towards the enclosure, throwing anything we could find at it, but it did not budge,” said Dani Rinck.
He was there with his sisters, brothers and their wives, his mother and small children in the open game-viewing vehicle.
He said the “panther” refused to let go, despite a cement brick, sticks and other objects being thrown at it.
Rinck said: “(The ranger) was lying on his back, the full weight of the panther on him, and his face was covered in blood.”
It was only when his older brother threw water at the cat that it moved away after the ranger had somehow managed to get up and throw it off.
Rinck said “there was blood everywhere. His whole face was torn up, his skull visible”.
“We grabbed him and drove the vehicle to the main gate to seek help.
“He was bleeding profusely and we had to use diapers to stem the blood flow.
“While he was losing consciousness he kept on apologising that our family had had to witness this harrowing event.”
The 21-year-old tour guide was then rushed to a hospital east of Pretoria.
Rinck explained that the “panther” caught the ranger unawares when it went through an open gate, whose padlock was rusty and couldn’t have offered much resistance.
The horror of it all, he added, was that if they had not managed to scare it away and close it in, it could easily have come for them and any of the tourists in the three vehicles around them.
He said the attitude of the managers had not helped.
“They stayed away until we had taken the injured man to hospital. They ignored the remaining family members for the two hours it took them to get back from the hospital.
“They called later to apologise, but blamed the guide for being in the enclosure without authority. But they never once displayed compassion for what he had been through.”
Efforts to get hold of the farm owners proved unsuccessful late on Sunday.
The Farm Inn is a privately owned hotel and conference centre on the outskirts of the city, with a wildlife sanctuary with 23 species of wildlife.
According to its website, visitors are offered game rides with experienced game rangers, and they can see close up – among other animals – lions, cheetah, tigers, leopard, wild dogs, hyenas, pumas, giraffe and a number of antelope species.
Rinck said their guide and other staff at the farm told them them that this particular cat was aggressive and was known to run towards the fence and throw itself against it.
A black panther is a jungle cat, also known as a “leopard with no spots”.
Panthers are aggressive, have large paws that have high strength and eat anything that moves.
They are sleek hunters at the top of the food chain and by far one of the most feared animals in the world.
Pretoria News