17.06.2011
Wounded leopards maul two professional hunters
By: JANA-MARI SMITH

TWO Namibians working in the hunting trade have been seriously injured in the past month after they were attacked by wounded leopards.
On Monday, Yakandonga Lodge owner Henry Peters was rushed to Otjiwarongo's hospital after he was attached by a wounded leopard he was trying to track down and kill. The animal was wounded the day before when a trophy hunter missed his mark. Peters sustained serious facial injuries, sources confirmed.
Almost a month ago, a second professional hunter, Naude Alberts, who works at Eden Trophy Hunting lodge in north-eastern Namibia, nearly lost his hand in a similar incident. Alberts was also accompanying a trophy hunter who had wounded a leopard. When Alberts tried to track down the leopard it turned on him and seriously wounded his left hand.
Both Peters and Alberts were eventually transferred to hospitals in Windhoek to undergo surgery for their injuries.
Dr Kalumbi Shangula, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, described the two incident's as “unfortunate” but added that it is “a problem” that two wild animal attacks on professional hunters have already been reported in the first half of the year.
He said these hunters “should know how to behave and prevent such issues”.
Dr Shangula said people must be very careful when dealing with wild animals.
“Their behaviour is unpredictable, even when they are peaceful, any slight provocation can induce an attack,” he warned.
During the incident in which Peters was attacked, it is alleged he tried to defend himself by firing a revolver twice at the leopard. It was of no use, and the wounded animal managed to flee.
It was only the next day, two days after the leopard was first shot, that it was located and killed.
Alberts was attacked on Eden in May.
According to a source in the hunting sector, the number of attacks is not unusual, but the involvement of professional hunters is a concern.
“We do not expect this from hunting guides and professional hunters. These are professional people, they should know. These are unfortunate incidents, but they are qualified enough to know the animal’s behaviour.”
Alberts declined to speak to The Namibian, while Peters could not be reached for comment by the time of going to print.


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Hope they both fully recover.


A bit steep in the criticism.

Even working the percentages you are always going to get the odd one or two that get through, same as Buffalo charges.

Isn't that what PH's are paid for ?

.

I am very sorry to hear about these two gentlemen being hurt by the leoprads.

But, the article above shows the total ignorance of the man at the ministry.

"Their behaviour is unpredictable, even when they are peaceful, any slight provocation can induce an attack,” he warned.

In what context was the above statement meant? The leoprads were SHOT, so THEY will be in a nasty mood!

Here is another gem from this genius:

"We do not expect this from hunting guides and professional hunters. These are professional people, they should know. These are unfortunate incidents, but they are qualified enough to know the animal’s behaviour.”


I think the poor guy has absolutely no idea of what leopards and hunting entails.

Sad, really, as he is supposed to be THE man to know.

Hey Saeed,

Being a little tough on the good Minister? Not really, as he sounds like a complete jerk-off based on his comments as reported above.

The solution to this "problem" is to have the client shoot straight and kill the Leopard, then there is no follow-up to concern the Minister and the PHs remain healthy. I sometimes think that no one should be allowed to hunt DG unless they can demonstrate proficiency with their firearm beforehand. And if they can't shoot straight, then restrict them to PG or send them home. Of course this will never happen, so more PHs will get hit.

Ha! You're right. That isn't going to happen. But just because one can shoot paper doesn't mean they'll shoot straight on a leopard.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
Hey Saeed,

Being a little tough on the good Minister? Not really, as he sounds like a complete jerk-off based on his comments as reported above.

African civil service ignorant arrogance in action.

Mr. Saeed did this person actually believe that the PH's do have a crystal ball under their arm, when they go out looking for a leopard? How asinine that statement was for crying out loud.

I now sometimes wonder if a 10ga shotgun loaded with 000 Buck shells or a 12ga 3.5 inch gun loaded the same way, would be a good choice for a wounded leopard up close under 30-ft say? You can let us know if this is good, bad or ugly ok.

worked well for me on an unwounded charging leopard at 10 feet-SSG to the neck/frontal chest turned out his lights rather quickly.

you're just lucky leopards are easy to kill.

Otherwise these guys that gut shoot these leopards would be getting their come-upin's.

sounds like the clients ran the tab and the PH's paid the bill. and leopards ARE easy to kill- IF YOU HIT THEM IN THE RIGHT SPOT(PUN INTENDED!!) and a 12 gauge load of SSG at 10 feet pretty much assures that.

Wonder if the Clients who bungled the shots were there with the PH's on the follow up........?????

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I am very sorry to hear about these two gentlemen being hurt by the leoprads.

But, the article above shows the total ignorance of the man at the ministry.

quote:

By minister:
"Their behaviour is unpredictable, even when they are peaceful, any slight provocation can induce an attack,”

he warned.

In what context was the above statement meant? The leoprads were SHOT, so THEY will be in a nasty mood!

Sad, really, as he is supposed to be THE man to know.

There is an old saying to discribe something being mean, that reads, "He's meaner than a gut shot grizzly!", but I don't think there is a meaner animal on the face of this Earth than a gut shot leopard! He may be smaller than the grizz but that just makes him harder to hit when he charges! Not a place that minister wants to be if HE had a lick of sense, which it is evident he doesn't!

...................................

Can we have more information on the attacks .I would like to know what type of weapon were the PHs using ,if they were using shotguns with buckshot ,and what type of handgun etc .

Jim Corbett, said there was no more frightening sound than a charging leapord.

This comment: “We do not expect this from hunting guides and professional hunters. These are professional people, they should know. These are unfortunate incidents, but they are qualified enough to know the animal’s behaviour.”


Is a bit more than harsh in my opinion as well.

I totally agree with Saeed and others re the ministry comments. There is nothing new about top-quality professional hunters being tagged by leopards. My own leopard hunting story is a bit long for here, but my PH (John Knowles) was deservedly nervous about the incident because at that time, the only other PH among his friends who hadn't yet been tagged besides him, had been, leaving him the sole remaining. BTW, in our hide, he carried a 10 ga. short bbl. Mossberg.

I think part of the problem is that the cost of DG hunting puts it out of reach for most of the gun nuts in the USA. Do to this you see more people with a lot of money and very little skill booking these hunts. One of the great things about AR is that it is full of hunters with enough money to hunt DG who have spent the time learing the skill needed to cleanly take the animals.

The good Minister can bite my azz!
My good friend John Greeff had many many Leopard kills under his belt not to count Lions, Ele's and Buffalo....we followed up together on a wounded Lion and got lucky and on some well hit Buffalo that did not wish to die....he is a consumate PH.....but now has one eye thanks to a client's bad shot on Leopard.

Itotally agree with you guys ,i guide here in ARGENTINA pumas and im seeing a lot of people with very few if any training booking big game hunts.I have had some bad incidents all due the lack of the skill of the clients -ever AR member that i guided and i guided a lot performed in a professional manner-the worst was when i was traking in long grass and injured puma with my 870 and suddenly a bullet passed near my head -the nontrained client saw theyes of the puma and shot- .Our friend DON HEATH said that the use of buckshot is involved in many incidents ,i never have problems with pumas but buckshot are for using in the 10 mts range not more.

Is it not true that the leopard charge statistically is
the most likely charge to result in the beast getting to
his target? I think that was printed somewhere???

quote:

Originally posted by BigFiveJack:
Is it not true that the leopard charge statistically is
the most likely charge to result in the beast getting to
his target? I think that was printed somewhere???

B.F.J. I think the statistics agree with the opinion of most PHs in Africa, and so is most likely correct. I respect their opinion far more than it seems the minister does.

IMO though, the leopard in the one animal that is most likley to wound more than one member of a follow-up crew! Unlike the lion which zeros in on "ONE" target passing others of the group to hit his chosen target, the leopard will bite and scratch everyone he can reach then flee if not put down!

.....................All the above is nothing more than my personal opinion, and worth no more than the price you paid for it!

............................................

Leopard is on my list of things I'd like to hunt and therefore I always take time to read a thread, article etc. regarding leopard. I thought I read somewhere that one problem with them versus lions is they don't announce their charge, they are virtually silent. Do I remember that wrong or is it true? I thought it said something about lions being very loud in charge but leopards just staying quite till they hit you.

I saw a couple of videos of leopard attacks, I always describe it to non-hunters when discussing the big 5 as being thrown into a blender, they just shred anything they touch. I think I read also that lions result in more kills of people but leopards definitely tag a lot more people.

Red

quote:

Originally posted by Dago Red: I thought I read somewhere that one problem with them versus lions is they don't announce their charge, they are virtually silent. Do I remember that wrong or is it true?
Red

Dago Red, IMO they are NOT silent, but emits a loud grunt/ growl as they launch the attack. I have had more than my fair share of leopard charges, and cannot remeber one that came silent. It may be because the majority of them where hunted with dogs, so the "stealth" is gone, but have also heard this grunt when following them by tarcks alone.

I have also heard other people commenting that they are silent, but have no idea if they where talking from experience or from reading it...

By the way, Naude was also shot through his right hand by the client during the follow up, so keep him in your prayers.

When I read these stories I better understand why the PH will be the happiest one in the hunting party when his client shoots a Leopard and it is dead when it hits the ground. I would venture sorting out a wounded Leopard is every DG PH's worst nightmare. I remember well the big smile on Norm Crooks face when my Leopard was DOA mother earth. He sure partied hardy that night.

Karl S, I know Naude very well. I have hunted with him at least a few days on each of my Namibian trips. Could you provide any other information on his injuries as I have been unable to find out more about the incedent. Also, is there any to contact him? My e-mails to Eden do not always get through. Thank you.

My PH last month, Gavin Rorke, carries a short barreled 10 gauge when following up wounded leopards. Fortunately we didn't need to follow up any.

He told about following up a buffalo with a client. The client insisted on having his friend carry his rifle. the buffalo charged and Gavin killed it at about seven yards with a .500m Nitro Express. He asked the client if he wanted to put in the coup de grace, so the client got the rifle and...click. He'd forgotten to load it.