Pretoria - The two-year-old black leopard that attacked a game ranger, sinking its claws into his head and face and leaving him with an exposed skull and torn face, will not be put down or removed from the Pretoria East wildlife sanctuary, the owners said on Monday.
The owners of the Farm Inn Wildlife Sanctuary said the cat was not at fault when it attacked the 23-year-old tour guide as he showed a family around on Saturday.
They said the predator had been in its private space when the man tried to coax it out for the visitors. “It is a wild animal. At the time when it attacked it had been in its private holding space,” spokeswoman Michelle Bosman said.
Deon Fourie had gone back into the larger enclosure when the leopard came out from its holding space and attacked him, she said.
Members of the family he had been with said Fourie had been in the enclosure for no longer than three minutes when the cat came from behind and jumped on to his back.
“He was trying to get it closer to the fence for us to see, when it came out and attacked,” Dani Rinck said on Sunday.
Rinck and other family members rushed to save him, hitting the cat with an assortment of weapons to try to get it off its prey.
He described the scene as bloody, and said Fourie had been on his stomach with the cat on his back, with its claws and teeth in him. Fourie had somehow managed to get it off him, and then one of the men threw water on it.
“That was when it walked away,” he said.
The privately owned Farm Inn has a hotel and conference centre, and its wildlife sanctuary offers guided tours.
It also has lions, cheetahs, tigers, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, and pumas, among other animals.
A black leopard is one of the smaller cats in the panthera family. They are built for hunting and have incredible speed. Leopards are known for their cream and gold fur spotted with black markings – the black ones often mistaken for panthers.
On a visit to the black leopard enclosure on Monday, the Pretoria News team found the cat stretched out on a ledge, dozing off after a feed. Rangers explained that because it was nocturnal it would become active after dark.
Farm Inn said: “Regrettably the employee failed to follow protocol and entered a secure enclosure with a black leopard and was attacked.
“The man was well trained and knew he was not supposed to get into the enclosure, a space meant for those who feed it or clean up.
“Standard procedure is that guides either stay in the car or stand outside while they talk to visitors.
“They have no business going into the enclosure,” Bosman added.
She said the man was receiving the best possible care and would be fit for work soon. Staff at Eugene Marais Hospital confirmed that he was out of danger.
“He is now in a general ward, and doing fine,” said nursing manager Leanne Engelbrecht.
Fourie had facial lacerations and was being given wound care, she said, adding that patient confidentiality prevented her from divulging more information on his condition or treatment.
Bosman said an internal investigation into the incident was ongoing. The owners would take care of the man and his treatment, because he had been injured on duty.
Pretoria News