Case of French boy killed by leopard
Witnesses to testify at High Court

By Staff Writer
The Arusha Times

Hearing of the case of a six-year-old French boy killed by a leopard at the Tarangire Safari Lodge in October 2005 continues from September 16 to 18 at the High Court of Tanzania in Arusha.
The boy, Adrien Pereira was attacked and killed by a leopard when he was playing with other children in and around the dining hall just after dinner.

In the case the boy’s father Adelino Pereira who was then an employee of the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is suing Sinyati Ltd t/a Tarangire Safari Lodge.
According to a plaint filed at the High Court, Sinyati Ltd/Tarangire Safari Lodge was “solely responsible in negligence†of the death of Adrien, a former student of Braeburn School in Arusha.

M. K. Kimomogoro of Imboru Chambers Advocates is representing the plaintiff. Particulars of negligence listed in the plaint include holding a barbecue for visitors at night; failure to warn visitors including the plaintiff about the likely presence of a leopard within the precincts of the lodge; failure to warn visitors against permitting children to be unaccompanied by adults; and failure to place enough security guards within the lodge precincts.

The plaintiff is claiming compensation for the value of the suit and general damages.

Mawalla and Associates, represented by Nyaga Mawalla, are standing for Sinyati Ltd t/a Tarangire Safari Lodge.
In their statement of defense they claim, inter alia, that the plaintiff had full knowledge and awareness that he and his family were within a wildlife area and therefore responsible “to reasonably ensure that himself and his children remained within the dining hall instead of playing outside in the dark without being accompanied by an adult.†The incident, they claim, was caused or contributed to by the negligence of the plaintiff.

Several witnesses are expected to testify during the three-day hearing.

I've taken my children into the presence of dangerous game. It was a risk, calculated with a kind of "risk/reward" theory.

Teaching your child to ski, fly an airplane, giving him or her information about ROTC scholorships, buying them a car; they all carry risks.

This June, I went about to my limit when I went to Africa with my girls. We walked with lions and hunted where buffalo, leopards and elephants were abundant. We went river rafting on the Zambezi... All of this in the interum between Election One and Election Two in Zimbabwe.

If a leopard had killed one of my kids, I'd have shot myself right there and then, but damn, I'm glad I went. I was in both my daughters dorm rooms in their respective colleges this last weekend. Both had wallpapered an entire wall with pictures of Victoria Falls, lions, dead animals, etc.

Sometimes, the risk is worth the reward.... particularly, when the risk is more in ones mind than if fact... after all, what is the ratio of tourists eaten to those who just eat?

As to liability of the lodge, I don't know the specifics, but if I were the lawyer for the defendant, I'd show them lots of Disney cartoons and thereby prove that the Lodge counldn't have know of any risk since lions talk, elephants fly, mice have girlfriends who wear bras and anything else is just plain Goofy.

Bio information

It never ceases to amazing and entertain me, the stupidity of people in this world. This Adelino Pereira is not going to receive and mental sauve from this case, just money. This will only act as a bandage for his self absorbed ignorance.

In Africa things can be dangerous. Mr. Adelino Pereira must live in a bubble. I wonder if he is up for all the "cases" for the victims in Rwanda since he is employed by the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Sorry to hear about this.

I can't imagine how I would feel if anything like this happened to one of my family members.

Still, Africa is not Disney World and things like this happen there. That is just a hard fact of life.

JMO, while I feel for the parents of the child that was killed, as others have stated, Africa, and the creatures that reside tere can be and are dangerous, for that fact, practically all animals, world wide, both wild and domestic can and do injure and kill people yearly.

Many people around the world are ignorant, to the point of being fatal about animals and their behaviors and abilities in general.

Should the lodge have taken more pre-cautions in regards to their guests safety, yes, I believe they should have.

Yes this happened in Africa, and yes humans are not as high on the food chain as they are say in Paris. Still more guards, more control over the guests activities, better instructions to parents about where/when and how their children should be wandering around the lodge.

However, the ultimate responsibility lies with the parent, simply because they were in Africa where many species of animals really do not recognise human superiority over them and their habits.

I believe thjat the father will realize some money out of it, to bad there isn't a Child protective Service over there that could file charges on him for child endangerment, since he allowed the child to roam around unsupervised in an area where wild animals were know to exist.

This is a tough case, on one hand it is ultimately the parents responsibility to safeguard and look after the child, on the other hand its not like the child was walking around the bush or that the parents who were not made aware of a leopard in the vicinity could expect harm to befall the child in a holiday lodge.

Without further information it is hard to make an informed opinion.

Damn shame and my condolences to the parents regardless of who is to blame.

I think we might need to look at this from a different prespective.

Our experience of being in Africa has been in hunting camps.

Where we know we are far away from any sort of civilization, and one has to keep his guard up.

What happened here is totally different.

This place is for tourists, where one should expect a different level of safety close to the camp.

Well, here is another perspective:

quote:

therefore responsible “to reasonably ensure that himself and his children remained within the dining hall instead of playing outside in the dark without being accompanied by an adult.â€

No shit!

You can come home and brag about taking sub-adult children to dangerous situations, but when something happens it seems to me that you are totally responsible and irresponsible for subjecting them to conditions that are unnecessarily dangerous.

Will,

While I agree with you, its not that simple.

The problem lies with so many people, here the parents - who I really feel for -, being oblivious to the danger.

Its not worth getting into a debate about whether the lodge had a duty to warn, etc, etc, that's what the judge and jury will decide.

But you gotta know, since you've been on a number of dangerous game safaris and so must have related your adventures to people who just don't get it and think a safari is no more than shooting zoo animals in Central Park Africa.

Remember the moron who was killed and eaten by a lion in Mana Pools because it was hot out and just thought the guides warning about sleeping in a tent was just bs?

JPK

I feel bad for the parents. This is something they will never get over.

Having said that, I took my youngest son to Africa the first time when he was 5. There wasn't one chance in hell he would be anywhere unaccompanied by an adult from the time the sun went down until the sun was up.

I think these parents made a big mistake. A deadly one to be certain.

quote:

Africa is not Disney World and things like this happen there. That is just a hard fact of life.

It is a sad fact that bad things happen to good people every day, even at Disney...

quote:

June 15, 2006 The parents of a 4-year-old boy who died while riding Epcot's Mission: Space have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Walt Disney World. Robert Samartin, the Tampa lawyer representing the parents of Daudi Bamuwamye, held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the suit, which was filed in Orange County on the anniversary of the boy's death. The suit says Disney should not have allowed such a small boy on the ride, did not provide adequate warnings about the potential hazards associated with the ride and did not do enough to help Daudi after he lost consciousness. Disney disputes the allegations....

"Africa" has inherent dangers, as does "the mountains", "the ocean", "the river", etc. - almost anywhere fun and exciting. This is what greeted my family at a beach in Hawaii:



And yes we knew prior to arranging the trip the risks, including on that part of the island and at that time of the year, the signs advised [reminded] us, and we were careful. But it didn't stop us from taking the family to Hawaii, or going into the ocean. And more tourists die in Hawaii then in Tanzania I am sure.

We don't know if these parents were informed, if they were responsible and diligent, and/or if the lodge took adequate measures to warn/remind and protect the guests. And while this is a tragic event, this should not spark another "Africa is no place for wives/families/kids" debate.

Sure some parents take their kids to Africa or other "dangerous places" (like the freeway at rush hour) just to "brag", but I suspect the vast majority do so for far better reasons.

Hey Bill C, where's the warning about the sharks?!They run outa room?!!

quote:

In the case the boy’s father Adelino Pereira who was then an employee of the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is suing Sinyati Ltd t/a Tarangire Safari Lodge

How many children of Africa have died under direct and indirect actions of the United Nations?

Does anyone in this forum believe that a monetary award from a legal action is going to compensate for a loss of a child?

I think if this had happened in one of the bigger camps in the Kruger, which are fenced and gated, I could understand the actions of the parents.

However, take a look at these pics on the Tarangire Safari Lodge website:




I can only assume this is not a fenced camp and is more akin to a hunting camp than a tourist lodge in RSA.

If this is indeed the case surely common sense should tell the parents that a child should not be playing outside unsupervised???

On the grounds of Victoria Falls Hotel I've seen perhaps a half-dozen warthogs and even two buffalo when walking from the Jungle Junction back to my room.

Is that a safe place to take a child? Is Scuba diving in the ocean where sharks sometimes are seen?

I've been on all sides of the controversies of "due care", "assumption of the risk", "proportional liability", "contributory negligence" and "informed consent" during my 33+ years as a lawyer and judge.

Large recoveries in lawsuits (like the McDonald's coffee spill) have been mis-reported and hyped by anti-lawyer groups. In most jurisdictions (at least in the states), it is really hard to win a case you shouldn't.

All too often, a daddy with a dead child, regardless of whose fault (or lack of it) feels mighty damn guilty. His wife probably blames him. His peers may blame him. You can hardly not understand his desire that he must be vindicated. Somebody has to be responsible instead of him. Somebody has to pay. And if the fault lies upon the hand of another, he should be vindicated and get whatever relief that (as we say in Georgia) green poltice can give. But....

I just find it hard to believe that a grown man, living in Africa, going to a lodge to see lions and tigers and crocs and buffalo and flesh-eating bugger-bears, or whatever would not expect his child to be in some danger. Heck, mosquitoes can kill.

Maybe, just maybe, some staff member had seen a leopard eyeballing the camp. Maybe someone knew that leopard tracks were seen that morning by the pool... that'd make a difference.

But stuff happens. I knew from the day as a bored child who wanted to get out of the South Georgia heat and picked up a J.A. Hunter book at the library... that everything in Africa bit.

That's one reason I wanted my children to experience it.

Thanks for posting the link Saeed, but I stand by my point.

The Father/the parents are ultimately to blame, for letting children that young, and yes 6 years old is very young to be roaming about by themselves.

Take the leopard out of the situation and insert an unattended swimming pool and a drowned child.

The child is just as dead, the parents are just as upset, but the parents are still to blame for letting a child/children that age wander off by themselves.

After having worked for almost 25 years at a Public Zoo in a major city, I have witnessed too many times where parents would get so wrapped up in what they were doing that 2, 3, 4 year old and older children would wander off and be lost on the grounds on a busy weekend for close to an hour or more, and in a major city there are predators that will do a lot more to a child that age than just try to drag them into the brush and eat them.

The lodge did have some responsibility in the matter, but if we are responsible enough to bring children into this world, we need to be responsible enough to keep watch over them until they are of an age to fend for themselves. JMO.

To add to this conversation, I was just listening to a local, D/FW MetroMess News Casts, and one of the major news bulletins, concerned the death of a 17 month old child.

This child was with its family, that had came to the D/FW MetroMess to escape Hurricane Ike.

This family was at a gas station fueling their vehicle.

Being normal, Non-Thinking beings, this child broke away from its parents, ran out the door of the station and in front of a woman driving a larger vehicle of some kind.

Needless to say, they child died at the scene.

The parents will always have pain due to a few seconds of not paying attention to their child and not maintaining control of said child.

The woman that hit and killed that child has to live with that the rest of her life.

The child is dead.

Just as dead as if it had died in the hurricane, drowned in an unattended swimming pool, or killed by a leopard.

Who do you all want to blame now????

The Gas Station?

The Lady that ran over the kid?

Or the parents for being too self absorbed in what they were doing at the time, THINKING, some one else was watching out for their child, and NOTHING would happen.

As I said earlier, PARENTS, have a responsibility to that life they co-operatively bring into this world, and that responsibility is a 24/7/365 deal.

NOT just whenever it does not interfere with what THEY have going on at the moment.

A persons child and its safety is NOT the responsibility of some one else, that is the parents job.

Lastly, before anyone gets any ideas, I have no kids, never did, and stuff such as the child being ran over and the boy being killed by the leopard, make me damn glad I didn't ever father a child.

Have I missed out on lots of the great stuff that happens between a parent and their child, You Betcha.

Have I had to live thru Hell, knowing that one moments drop in my vigilance over a child cost that childs life, NO I HAVE NOT, and I am Damn glad of it.

Tanzania: Mauling Death Case Starts Today




The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

15 September 2008
Posted to the web 16 September 2008

Zephania Ubwani


The case against a tourist lodge where a seven-year-old son of a UN employee was mauled to death by a leopard three years ago, starts at the High Court here today .

The boy's father, Mr Adelino Pereira, has filed the case against Tarangire Safari Lodge and its employees for being negligent leading to the killing of his son by the carnivore.


Until then a translator with the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) here, Mr Pereira is represented by Mr Method Kimomogora, an advocate with the Arusha-based Imboru Chambers.

The late Adrian Pereira was snatched by the leopard from the verandah of the tourist lodge in Tarangire National Park on the evening of October 1, 2005. His parents and other guests were then having dinner.

He was found dead in less than half an hour some 150 metres from the lodge by his father and other people who joined the rescue minutes after the attack.

Mr Pereira told The Citizen yesterday that his son died because of alleged negligence on the part of the hotel management and its employees on duty that day.

He said probably the same leopard which killed his son who was playing around after dinner, had attacked another child of the lodge employee minutes earlier but hotel guests were neither informed nor cautioned.

"The boy (hotel worker's son) survived and was rushed to hospital. But the manager on duty did not inform guests of what had happened," he claimed.

Mr Pereira, visibly still suffering from the trauma of losing his beloved child, flew here last weekend for the case from Geneva where he has relocated since 2006.

The October 1, 2005 killing of his son took place only two months after he was posted to Arusha as a French translator at the ICTR. Before that he had also been to Lake Manyara and Arusha national parks.

His son was snatched at about 8:15 p.m. by the animal while he and other guests were having dinner in the dining hall of the lodge located near the park's main entrance.

During the case, which will be heard at the High Court for three consecutive days from today, he intends to bring several witnesses, including those who were with him for the barbecue dinner.

They include Dr Scott Markey, a medical specialist from Vancouver, Canada, who was among more than ten guests they shared the dinner with on the fateful evening.

According to a plaint filed in the High Court of Tanzania, Arusha (Civil Case No. 10 of 2006), Mr Pereira has sued Sinyati Limited which owns Tarangire Safari Lodge.


His family is demanding "a modest" compensation from Tarangire Safari Lodge for the loss of his beloved son, the first born in his family which then had four persons.

Tanzania: Court Told of Leopard's Craving for Roast Meat



The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

17 September 2008
Posted to the web 17 September 2008

Zephania Ubwani
Arusha

The leopard, which killed the son of a United Nations employee in October, 2005, had been frequenting a tourist lodge during barbecue dinners to feed on the leftovers, the High Court was told yesterday.

The first prosecution witness in the case filed by the victim's father told the court sitting in Arusha that Tarangire Safari Lodge management did not make any effort to chase the animal away.


Mr Mpinga Mathew, who was a laundry attendant at the lodge, said the leopard arrived without fail at the luxury resort every Wednesday and Saturday, during the barbecue dinners.

He said it had become so familiar at the place that it was not seen to pose any danger visitors and staff. No leopard attack had been reported before that fateful day, when it snatched the young boy.

The boy's father, Mr Adelino Pareira, has sued the lodge for alleged negligence leading to his death.

In his testimony yesterday, Mr Mathew said the deadly animal had become an amusement for tourists, who would often pose with it and take photographs.

"Everybody knew that there was a leopard, which always camped near the kitchen, especially during the barbecue dinners. It used to feed on meat leftovers," he told the court.

The law prohibits the feeding of wild animals in the national parks. The lodge is within Tarangire National Park.

The killer leopard was shot dead three days after it had snatched the boy. It had killed him, abandoned the body and fled on being pursued by a search party. However, it was ambushed as it turned up not far away from the lodge, apparently in search of meat leftovers.

Mr Pereira has sued Tarangire Safari Lodge and its employees, accusing them of negligence, which, he says, led to his son's killing by the animal on October 1, 2005.

The beast snatched seven-year-old Adrien from the verandah of the lodge, while his parents and other guests were having dinner.

During yesterday's four-hour hearing, Mr Mathew told Judge Kakusulo Sambo that the lodge never sought the advice of wildlife experts on how to deal with their strange four-legged visitor.

He said he believed Mr Pereira's son could be alive today had some care been taken by the lodge's management.

Mr Mathew told Judge Sambo that about an hour before the leopard snatched Adrien, who was playing with other children after dinner, it had also attacked his own son within the lodge.

The two-and-a-half-year-old Mathew Mpinga was saved from the claws of the animal, but suffered deep wounds on his face, the court heard.

Mr Mathew left the lodge, where he had worked for nine years from December 1997, after he was sacked following Mr Pareira's decision to file the case.

He said that before the October, 2005 incident, he had been seeing a leopard wandering about near the lodge for a year and believed it was the one that attacked his own baby and later killed the UN employee's son.

During cross-examination by Mr Hubert Makange, representing the lodge and staff, Mr Mathew denied that he had become a prosecution witness because he was bitter after being sacked.

But the advocate asked him why he had not sued his former employer over injuries suffered by his son suffered in the leopard attack and for dismissing him.

Mr Mathew said there were no armed security guards at Tarangire Safari Lodge during the twin attacks on the evening of October 1, 2005.

The lodge, located by the main gate to the park, near Minjingu Township, had only two employees doing security work but "armed" only with spotlights to assist visitors, the former laundry attendant said.

Mr Method Kimogora represents Mr Pereira, who was a translator with the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

During cross-examination, Mr Pereira maintained that the animal killed his son because of the negligence of the lodge management and its employees.

Visitors to the lodge, he said, had not been notified about the dangers posed by wild animals or given any safety instructions.

He told Judge Sambo that although the animals in the park were under the control of Tanapa, the safety of people within the lodge was the responsibility of management.

Mr Pereira, who was cross-examined for nearly three hours, defended Tanapa, saying it gave visitors safety instructions. He said they had been advised to drive only along the tracks and not to get out of their vehicles while inside the park.

The killing of his son happened barely two hours after his family returned to the lodge from a game drive.

There was a sombre mood in the court when, the UN employee, who has since been transferred to Geneva, narrated how he heard screams after his child was snatched by the animal as he was having dinner.

He said that after the distress call, all the guests came out and called their children, but "my beloved Adrien did not respond.

"I called, Adrien, Adrien, Adrien. He did not respond. I was so confused. In a few minutes, a safari car came and we rushed into the bush," he said, holding back tears.

Within 10 to 15 minutes, they spotted a leopard. "I alighted and it ran away. The first thing I found was a shoe. Later, I stumbled upon his body," he said.

The critically injured boy was taken to the local health centre but was pronounced dead by a Canadian doctor, who is among the prosecution witnesses expected to testify today.

Mr Pereira said the incident occurred only two months after he was posted to Arusha as a French translator at the ICTR.

The case will be heard at the High Court for three consecutive days. Four witnesses will testify for the Pereira family.

They include Dr Scott Markey, a medical specialist from Vancouver, Canada, who was among the more than 10 guests having dinner that fateful evening.

According to a plaint filed in the High Court of Tanzania, Arusha (Civil Case No.10 of 2006), Mr Pereira has sued Sinyati Limited, which owns Tarangire Safari Lodge.

It says Sinyati Limited/Tarangire Safari Lodge was "solely responsible in negligence" for the death of Adrien, a former pupil of Braeburn School in Arusha.

The family is demanding "a modest" compensation from Tarangire Safari Lodge mainly to cover the travel costs of the witnesses and funeral expenses.

They are also demanding that the lodge erect a commemorative plaque and plant a tree at the spot where Adrien was snatched by the beast.

According to Mr Pereira, an inquiry made by ICTR's security unit and Tanzanian police immediately after the attack, established that the presence of the leopard was known to many of the workers that day.

"The leopard was sitting on the wall not very far from the barbecue. One of the waitresses admitted the leopard was there and that some people took pictures with it," he said.

He accused the management of not taking any measures to improve security around the lodge despite knowing about the presence of the leopard and other dangerous animals.

On the fateful day, Mr Pereira and his wife, Cecile, and their children, Adrien and Clement, had checked in at around 2pm for what was expected to be an enjoyable weekend at the lodge.


They went for a game drive and by 7.30 pm, they were having dinner, when the animal struck.

Tanzania: Tears Flow As Witness Recalls Leopard Attack


The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

18 September 2008
Posted to the web 18 September 2008

Zephania Ubwani


The mother of the child who was mauled by a leopard at a tourist lodge three years ago broke down and wept at the High Court yesterday as a witness narrated how her son's motionless body was found.

Ms Cecile Pereira could not hold back tears as a medical doctor who examined her son's body explained how the child died.


The 39-year-old woman, who is a French translator with the United Nations in Geneva, had to be calmed and consoled by her equally distraught husband, Mr Adelino Pereira, and other relatives.

It took some minutes for her to regain her composure and listen to the testimony of a Canadian medical doctor who was the first person to attend to the dying boy.

Dr Scott Markey told the High Court presided over by Judge Kakusulo Sambo that he tried to resuscitate Adrien after he was attacked by the leopard, but it was too late.

Mr Pereira's family is suing the operator of Tarangire Safari Lodge for alleged negligence, which led to the death of his first child, then aged seven.

The attack took place on the evening of October 1, 2005 when Mr Pereira, his wife and other hotel guests were having dinner.

Adrien was among several children who were playing outside the lodge when the male leopard reportedly pounced on the child before disappearing into nearby bushes.

Dr Markey said in his two-hour testimony that he checked into the lodge on September 30, 2005, a day before the Pereira family arrived.

He told the court that he was in the barbecue area on the fateful evening, shortly before the attack took place.

He added that the evening was hectic because the lodge was full of guests, who were mostly discussing their experiences on game drives.

Incidentally, some of the visitors are said to have expressed disappointment for not having seen animals such as the leopard during their drives within the Tarangire National Park.

The private medical practitioner said he overheard a lodge waitress called Mary telling the guests not to worry because there was a leopard which frequented the area.

Dr Markey and a group of 15 to 20 guests were later taken to the verandah of the lodge where, with the aid of spotlights, they saw a leopard lying on the wall fence.

He said the leopard was spotted near a path leading to some tents from the main building.

"I remember feeling unsafe standing there. In few minutes I went inside the dining hall," he said, adding that other people stood outside looking at the animal.

Dr Markey said he heard a loud scream shortly afterwards, adding that there was a commotion in the barbecue area.

"Within two minutes it became clear that a child has been snatched by the leopard. Nobody took the control of the situation on what to do and not to do," he said.

He said a rescue operation was underway within minutes and two vehicles drive in the direction of the attack. The vehicles drove back to the lodge after 15 minutes with a distraught Mr Pereira carrying the motionless body of his boy in his hands.

"Being a doctor, I intervened. I tried to assess the boy's injuries. His neck was broken. There were also teeth marks in front of his neck. I tried to resuscitate him," he said.

"I tried to compress his body. His pulse was very slow as were his heartbeat. He was no longer breathing. There were only 10 heartbeats per minute instead of the normal 80 to 90 beats," Dr Markey said.


The boy was taken to a nearby dispensary where he was pronounced dead. "There was nothing we could do. We rushed back to inform his already devastated mother," Dr Markey said.

Not looking good for the lodge, based on these facts.

Still, the parents should never have allowed their child to play outside unsupervised and unprotected in dangerous game country.

That is a fool's gambit.

I will hazard the prediction that both the parents and the lodge will be found contributorily negligent - although handicapping litigation is a risky business - and especially in Africa - one never knows.

In my neck of the woods, contributary negligence by the plaintiff is a complete bar to recovery. Wonder what the law is, or is supposed to be, in Tanzania?

JPK

Tanzania: Leopard Attack Case Adjourned



The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

19 September 2008
Posted to the web 19 September 2008

Zephania Ubwani
Arusha

The case in which a United Nations employee is suing a tourist lodge over the death of his son after he was attacked by a leopard in 2005 has been adjourned to November.

The hearing could not resume yesterday as scheduled after the fifth prosecution witness failed to turn up because he had not been released by his employer.


"The witness is an employee of the UN and would be cleared by next month," said advocate Method Kimomogoro, who is representing the plaintiff.

Hearing would now resume on November 24 and will continue for four consecutive days, he told reporters outside the High Court building.

Mr Adelino Pereira and his wife, Cecile, are seeking compensation for general damages they suffered after their son was snatched from the compound of Tarangire Safari Lodge and subsequently killed by a leopard.

The then seven-year-old Adrien was attacked by the animal while playing outside the lodge's main building with other children of guests on the evening of October 1, 2005.

The UN official, who will be called to testify, was among investigators from the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) who visited the scene of attack immediately after the death of the child.

Mr Kimomogoro said the testimony by the fifth prosecution witness on November 24 would be followed by submissions from the defendant Sinyati Limited, which trades as Tarangire Safari Lodge, and which is represented by advocate Hubert Makange.

Mr Pereira and his wife, then working as French translators at the ICTR in Arusha, had gone for weekend game viewing at Tarangire National Park when the attack took place.

They are suing the management of the lodge, located within the park, for alleged negligence which led to the attack.

The French couple have since then been transferred to UN offices in Geneva. Mr Pereira, the first prosecution witness, testified on Tuesday before Judge Kakusulo Sambo, who is hearing the case.

Others who have testified are a former employee of the lodge Mpinga Matthew, Canadian Scott Markey, who examined the victim's body, and Mrs Joceline Mulera, a Frenchwoman who was at the lodge at the time of the attack.

Mrs Mulera, who has lived in Arusha since 1993, told the court on Wednesday that she knew Adrien because he was playing with her children before the incident and that the Pereiras were family friends.

She added that before the attack, Adrien and her son Basil, who were age mates, went into a lodge hut she had been booked into to collect toys.

"Suddenly there was a loud scream from the direction of the barbecue: 'Chui amemchukua mtoto (a leopard has snatched a child)'," she narrated.

Mr Pereira claimed that his son was killed by the animal because of negligence of the lodge's management in ensuring adequate security for guests.

Mr Pereira insists that Sinyati Limited/Tarangire Safari Lodge was "solely responsible in negligence" for the death of Adrien, formerly a pupil of Braeburn School in Arusha.

The French couple are demanding "modest" compensation from Tarangire Safari Lodge mainly to cover for the travel costs of the witnesses and funeral expenses.


They are also demanding that the lodge operator erect a commemorative plaque and plant a tree at the spot where Adrien was attacked by the beast.

Approximately 100 people have died this summer in the Alps while mountain climbing or hiking. 40 in Italy, 30 in France and 20 in Switzerland. The world is a dangerous place.

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
He said that after the distress call, all the guests came out and called their children,

Where some posters are quick to blame the lads parents, it seems other parents also thought it was safe for their kids to be playing on the verandah. It's not as though they were let run through the bush.
They also all seemed to think the leopard was a long term visitor that hadn't been any trouble before.

Yet the park people would have been in the best place to realise a partly tame wild animal can be more dangerous. After all, it's their business, whereas the guests can be real amatures, which is their right.

quote:

Originally posted by JPK:
Will,

While I agree with you, its not that simple.

The problem lies with so many people ..... being oblivious to the danger.

Interesting. A story with hindsight.

In 1988 I travelled overland from Kenya to Zimbabwe via Botswana.

We stayed in a lodge in Maun in the Okavango. The lodge was cheap and offered cheapo tours into the Okavango including overnight camping. Bring your own food and gear. A group of us did this and scrounged some tinned food, a couple of tarpaulins etc.

Motored around and walked around (note guides were blacks and not armed at all) the swamps during the day seeing various animals, then we were dropped off on an island in the swamps to make a camp. The black guides jumped into their boat and headed off home.

WITH HINDSIGHT we were completely oblivious to the fact lions, leopards, hyaena, crocs, hippos, elephants etc etc might have walked around on that island especially at night.

Nothing happened and probably nothing happens 99.99% of the time.

But with hindsight the fact the blacks did not stay the night, SAID THEY KNEW BETTER.

Another time in Kenya, the cooks and drivers refused to put up tents and slept in the vehicle.

Every night the Ambroselli campsite was raided by elephants with rangers attempting to drive them off. Indeed I had ele footprints within 2 feet of where my head was in the tent. Imagine the sight if the tent was not in the way!

AGAIN THE BLACKS AND STAFF KNEW BETTER, but never tell the customer.

So there is a certain duty of care, responsibility and accountability. Maybe we should ALL have slept in the vehicles but wouldn't have fitted.

Most nights I slept outside anyway under a mosquito net strung between two chairs.

PS Not aimed at anyone in particular, but if guys who fly in to the airport, are met by their minder, fly out to the safari camp, met and hand held by their PH the whole time, do some touring again hand held by the PH, then onto the planes and off after their DANGEROUS African adventure, think they can comment as death defying heroes, then .......

This whole story is very sad indeed. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it seems that there were a few warning signs. Firstly the fact that they knew there was a leopard around camp. Secondly leaving children unattended, regardless of the danger. Thirdly, the attack on the camp staff's child should have been immediately reported to the camp manager, but they probably did not want to spread alarm and panic. I think that it is very easy to get into a very relaxed state of mind around camp, but you should never forget that large cats become very different animals after dark compared to when you see them lounging around during the day in the shade.

Even if the lodge was high fenced, which it probably was not, with lots of evidence of leopard around at night, I would certainly not wander around in the dark, but especially not children. Fences mean nothing to leopard! It is never a good idea to feed and attract animals around camp, even if it provides for nice photographs, etc. Drop your guard too much and bad things sometimes happen. Bottom line is the children should not have been playing outside at night unattended with a leopard around camp. Who is to blame? It is easy to point fingers, but sounds like a trajic accident which should have been avoided if everyones guard was up.

Does anyone know the final verdict and outcome of this legal case?

Continued to November 24th

Leopard kills boy: hotel guilty
30/03/2009 22:12 - (SA)


Nairobi - A Tanzanian court has found against the owners of a hotel in whose grounds a six-year-old French boy was mauled to death by a leopard, the child's father said on Monday.

"We had asked for three things," Adelino Pereira, father of Adrien, told AFP.

"Authorisation to plant a tree on the spot where our son was killed and to place a commemorative plaque and symbolic damages of $50 000. All these requests have been accepted," he said.

"That means the responsibility of the hotel has been recognised. That does not change anything about what happened but this responsibility, which was always denied, has at last been recognised."

The verdict was given by the High Court in Arusha in northern Tanzania and the hotel owners have 15 days to appeal.

On October 1 2005 the boy was attacked and killed by the leopard while his family was staying at the Tarangire Safari Lodge, in the Tarangire national park near Arusha.

Witnesses cited by the family said another child, aged four, had been injured by the same leopard shortly before Adrien was attacked.

A doctor present at the hotel, who tried to save Adrien, said hotel staff had reported that the leopard regularly approached the hotel, especially on Saturday evenings when there was a weekly barbecue for guests.

National parks in Tanzania, like those in neighbouring Kenya, are rich in wildlife, in particular big cats, which often come near to the hotels in them.

- AFP

Although the parents think they are assuaging their guilt, they really aren't, and will know it forever in their heart of hearts.

Very sad. But, an interesting case from a legal perspective.

Parents should have supervised their child. For those of us that hunt, that seems obvious. How many times have you found leopard or hyena tracks right in the middle of camp or around the tents. But tourists working for the UN may not have known that.

If the operation knew they had a leopard hanging out looking for handouts, that seems to be a bit of a problem.

If Tanzania is a strict contributory negligence jurisdiction, parents contrib could be a complete bar. Or is it comparative -- meaning a percentage responsibility. And, is the child's estate a party? A child that young generally cannot be contributorily negligent.

As I said, sad case, but interesting from a legal perspective. And, not as clearcut as originally it seemed.