Leopard kills woman on TV shoot
2011-03-16 22:52


Berlin - A leopard not previously thought to be dangerous has killed a member of a German television crew making an episode of a popular series in Namibia just outside Windhoek.

A spokesperson for the production company ndF said on Wednesday: "The animal was thought to be completely docile.

"Some members of the team even stroked him before."

The 46-year-old woman, who has not been named, was part of a team preparing an episode of Um Himmels Willen (For Heaven's Sake), a light-hearted and long-running series set in and around a Bavarian nunnery.

"He unexpectedly went for her throat," Ulf Tubbesing, a Namibian-German television vet who owned the farm where the tragedy took place, told the Bild daily.

"I immediately ordered my farm manager to shoot the animal."


- SAPA

Does this mean there is only 74,465,129,487 folks left in Namibia?

"leopard previously thought not to be dangerous"

["I immediately ordered my farm manager to shoot the animal."


You had to order him to shoot??!!

sad. pray for comfort for her survivors. it's a shame some forget wild animals are actually wild.

Are you kidding me??? Is it really possible to be that stupid???

Leopard mauls photographer to death
By: DENVER KISTING

A German tourist was reportedly mauled to death by a leopard over the weekend. It is understood that the woman was bitten at about 16h00 Friday afternoon on Ongos, the farm of veterinarian Dr Ulf Tubessing.
The leopard apparently tore open the woman’s jugular vein in her neck. She also sustained a neck fracture.
Although she was rushed to the Windhoek Medi-Clinic, she died at about 03h30 Saturday morning.
She was taken into surgery immediately upon arrival at the private hospital to try and re-attach the vein.
It is understood that she kept on losing the blood that she received through a transfusion and eventually lost the battle against severe blood loss.
The woman is said to have been part of a film crew who was busy shooting a documentary on Dr Tubessing’s farm.
She was apparently taking pictures of the animal when the incident took place.
People attending an international tourism gathering in Germany yesterday said news about the incident reached them by Saturday.
Khomas Deputy Commissioner Silvanus Nghishidimbwa yesterday said that the matter was not reported to the Police.
Dr Kalumbi Shangula, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, expressed shock about the incident.
“I am shocked. I will have to investigate it tomorrow [today]. People should be careful, but I am not sure under what circumstances it happened as it was on a private farm.”
Various attempts to get hold of Dr Tubessing proved futile yesterday.


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quote:

"The animal was thought to be completely docile.

Someone watched too many Disney movies I suspect.

When are people going to learn that there is no such thing as a tame lion or leopard? Sooner or later hey all look at you as food or a rival.

465H&H

+1

My sympathies go out to the family of the deceased.

My sister is a large animal trainer and does work for the movie industry. She works with large cats, bears, monkeys, apes and assorted other stuff like wolves and even has a Eurasian boar she works with.

She told me that almost no one ever gets hurt by the more aggressive, unpredictable individual animals. People are on their guard and doing what they are supposed to do around a dangerous animal when in the presence of these more aggressive individuals.

The ones that kill people are the totally "trustworthy" "friendly" animals. People let their guard down and start treating them like house pets and that is when the trouble starts.

I got cleared to do a training session in the enclosure with my sister a few years ago with a tiger and a lion. Here were the ground rules.

#1 There was a loaded firearm in reach at all times. Required by the owners rules.

#2 NEVER turn your back on a large cat turning your back on a cat automatically creates a predator/prey response in all large cats.

#3 If you fall down DO NOT make any noises that would indicate that you are in distress and get up immediately.

#4 If the animal grabs or bites you or your clothes do not pull away and do not show fear aggressively and calmly move with the animal you need to stay in control of the situation at all times. Pulling back a screaming at the animal is the WORST thing you can do.


And of course if any one of those big cats would have decided to kill me there wasn't a darn thing that could be done about it even with a firearm that was in reach. I've got all the respect in the world for folks who work with these large animals on a day to day basis but the hard cold truth is that most of them have scars and some of them are dead. Working with large dangerous animals is an unpredictable dangerous business.

quote:

#4 If the animal grabs or bites you or your cloths do not pull away and do not show fear aggressively and calmly move with the animal you need to stay in control of the situation at all times. Pulling back a screaming at the animal is the WORST thing you can do.

Following that RULE might just test someones memory at the time.

Von Gruff.

Never saw a confined leopard that didn't have some degree of potential murder/rage in its eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
Never saw a confined leopard that didn't have some degree of potential murder/rage in its eyes.

I agree

But wouldnt you?

SSR

quote:

Originally posted by Von Gruff:

quote:

#4 If the animal grabs or bites you or your cloths do not pull away and do not show fear aggressively and calmly move with the animal you need to stay in control of the situation at all times. Pulling back a screaming at the animal is the WORST thing you can do.

Following that RULE might just test someones memory at the time.

Von Gruff.

That was what I was thinking when I heard it!! I watched one of the trainers deal with a situation with a yearling brown bear. The bear playfully nipped the trainers shoulder and got a canine hooked in the fabric of the trainers jacket. He did just like I was instructed, he didn't try to pull away but moved with the animal, calmly but firmly gave it commands until he was able to work free.

Like I said not a job for the faint of heart!

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
Never saw a confined leopard that didn't have some degree of potential murder/rage in its eyes.

At the training facility they had a pair of leopards one black and one spotted. I was informed that they were the most dangerous animals to work with. Totally unpredictable with a huge "attitude" and lightening fast.

'Tame' Leopard = dead idiot. Nuff said.

quote:

He unexpectedly went for her throat

I thought thats what Lepoard's 'did'. If the person knew leopards, wouldn;t he have known that?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Will:
Does this mean there is only 74,465,129,487 folks left in Namibia?[/QUOTE
i give up-can someone translate this post for me??

Dear Jdollar,

Tongue-in-cheek, exaggeration??? On a more serious note, there are now only 8003 leopards left!!! The victim, [R.I.P.] is or should be nominated for a Darwin Award.

I don't want someone watching my back that has to be told to SHOOT!!!!! How about you guys...

It is vogue nowday's to hear, even African hunters with fair amounts of experience ,talk about the chance of 'being scratched' if all goes wrong and a leopard gets you down. I guess that can and does happen, but for damn sure most of the guys I personally know of that ended up in a contact with a leopard got the hell bit out of them. Cats catch with claws-they kill with teeth ! "Being scratched" waters down the reality in MHO.
A shame this woman bought into the lie that the owner of the cat allowed her to believe, that ANYONE can predict the nature of a leopard. I have heard the same as Greg, that of all the big cats, leopard in captivity are far and away the most dangerous.

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:

quote:

"The animal was thought to be completely docile.

Someone watched too many Disney movies I suspect.

My immediate reaction to these stories is, "...another victim of Walt Disney". It happens often enuf that I have my wife trained - when she sees stories or videos of stuff like this she says, "Walt Disney didn't tell you that, did he?"

I look forward to Aniaml Planet or the Discovery Channel or NatGeoWild showing this tragic event on Telly....and placing their spin on it.....it was all probably some hunters fault....or the Leopard felt threatened by an evil firearm being present....

quote:

Originally posted by Tom In Tennessee:
I look forward to Aniaml Planet or the Discovery Channel or NatGeoWild showing this tragic event on Telly....and placing their spin on it.....it was all probably some hunters fault....or the Leopard felt threatened by an evil firearm being present....

SS,

your sister is tougher than I am. I just see my position at the top of the food chain being challenged under circumstances like that.

I admire people who can do that...

Rich