From The TimesJune 12, 2007

Jogger wins fight with safari lodge over elephant attack

Rob Crilly in Nairobi


A luxury safari lodge was to blame for a jogging accident during which a British tourist was trampled by an elephant and left for dead, a court ruled yesterday. Wendy Martin was severely gored and her pelvis crushed in the attack, which occurred as she took part in a three-mile bush run.

Il Ngwesi lodge, about 100 miles north of Nairobi and one of the most exclusive destinations in Kenya, had claimed that the runners were responsible for their decision to set out on foot in an area filled with wildlife. Owners of the lodge also claimed that attacks by wild animals were covered by the Wildlife Conservation Act, which held the Government responsible.

Mrs Martin, from Godalming, is pursuing an £800,000 civil action against the lodge, which, she said, would help to prevent other tourists from being attacked by wildlife.

“I just hope the case will send a very clear message to lodges that they must have procedures in place to ensure their guests’ safety,†she said.


A safari experience not to be forgotten
Mrs Martin was staying with friends at Il Ngwesi during a holiday that was meant as a final farewell to the country after her husband had completed a posting with the British High Commission.

The lodge stands beside land owned by the Craigs, a prominent white Kenyan family whose daughter Jecca once dated Prince William.

The incident, which happened six years ago, took place when Mrs Martin, two friends and a guide set off on a three-mile bush run through the dusty scrub around the lodge. Halfway through the circuit, as they turned for home, an elephant charged from the undergrowth. Mrs Martin, then aged 39, tripped as she tried to flee. She was gored repeatedly by the elephant, which ended the attack by kneeling on her crumpled body, crushing her pelvis.

“I thought I was going to die and I was very lucky I didn’t.†She needed 13 operations but still suffers constant pain in her legs seven years later.

Lawyers for Ian Craig, who is executive director of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy — set up to manage his family’s land — argued that the runners were responsible for their own safety at that time. But Judge Mary Angawa, in a ruling delivered at the colonial-era courthouse in Nairobi, said that the lodge had advertised runs with Masai warriors as an attraction and therefore should have taken adequate measures to protect its guests. She said that Mr Craig, Il Ngwesi Company and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy were each 100 per cent liable.

Elephant attacks have become increasingly common in Kenya, where a growing human population is encroaching on migration routes. Most victims are Kenyan farmers trying to protect their crops.

Mr Craig said that he was concerned that the judgment would damage conservation efforts and that he would consult his lawyers on making an appeal: “This has not been thought through and the potential implications are chilling.â€

Here's an idea - maybe Kenya should manage their own elephant herd instead of worrying about what Zimbabwe is doing with theirs.

Lawyers! And Judges!

It is akways somebody elses fault.

AAARRGG!!

It Can't be the elephant's fault, He hasn't got any money...

A judgment of 800,000 British Pounds is certainly more than $800,000 USD! I say sue the Masai that didn't show up for work!

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
A judgment of 800,000 British Pounds is certainly more than $800,000 USD! I say sue the Masai that didn't show up for work!

You can't. He hasn't got any money either.

I still can't figure out how so many people are complacent knowing DBG is about. No matter if it is African game or grizzlies and puma's they seem to feel if they are 'minding their own business' by just being a jogger, a tourist, a photographer or a greenpeacer that the wildlife will just over look their trespasses.

I call this a Disney attitude, but I now truly think that Disney really didn't like people in some twisted way. Yet the Disney influence is so very thick around the world. (Conspiracy! )

I conclude this since so many die (or are severely injured) from simply 'minding their own business' while trampling into a dangerous animals SPACE with no plans to hunt it.

quote:

Originally posted by Collins:
It Can't be the elephant's fault, He hasn't got any money...

NICE!

No, but you could get his spear, shield, loincloth, blanket. . . .

At least the United States isnt alone with ridiculous law suits. Perhaps they could arrest the Elephant and then let it free a couple days later for medical reasons - undo stress caused by incarceration.

If the lodge advertises game walks with a guide or runs or whatever, shouldn't the lodge provide adequate protection? ie a suitably armed guide and not a Maasai spear.

If the lodges can't by law provide a suitably armed guide then it is the governments fault and they should be liable.

When I stayed in Kenya in the 1980's not one lodge, National Park camp, or whatever had proper "protection".

The closest was the Ambroselli main camp ground where they had two of three ranges armed with big bore rifles but no fencing whatsover. The elephants came right into camp at night and were known to tear apart tents and cars if food was inside (signs warned campers not to do this). The rangers were busy shooting one night to scare elephants off. The closest an elephant got to me one night was about a metre - ie they walked a metre past my tent, if I could have seen through the tent wall, I would have looked up at the belly of an elephant.

The camp in the Mara had a Maasai with a spear as a guard. A lion circled our camp the first night grunting about a hundred metres out.

Another camp had dudes with native bows and arrows. These guys were more for protection against humans (thieves) than animals.

Somehow I think it might be hard to have suitable guards and guides in anti-hunting Kenya. Unlike a more 'sensible' country like Zimbabwe where PHs can often carry firearms in Parks (I believe?).

Across the river in Zambia we had no guard at all when doing a canoe safari and camping on the shore, as the gov't ones were worse than useless. Lions, elephants, buffalo etc were around and right in the camp at night.

As we saw from the incident earlier this year at The Hide in Zim, not even an armed guard suffices to protect tourists in some circumstances.

The law should not, IMO, protect people from their own stupidity or from risks that they willingly and knowingly assume. And anyone should know, and the law should charge them with the knowledge in any case, that elephant and other wild African animals are and can be very dangerous.

Besides that general principle, it is inconceivable that the operators of this camp would not require guests who do this sort of thing to sign a waiver and release of claims and liabilities, coupled with a broad indemnity, in a form that the courts having jurisdiction would recognize and enforce.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
As we saw from the incident earlier this year at The Hide in Zim, not even an armed guard suffices to protect tourists in some circumstances.

Yeah sh*t happens. But what is the case in a lot of these African countries is the operators are actually prevented from providing reasonable security.

For example the Zambian canoe safari I mentioned. A gov't guard could be hired by the operator ie no private firearms allowed in the Parks. They hired one at first. He was armed with a AK-47 with no sights on the barrel and one bullet. They let him go and after that didn't provide any security at all.

Its a bit different from a Zimbabwean lodge that provides a fully fledged PH with suitable big bore rifle and as can happen something wrong goes wrong.

I don't like lawsuits as much as the next person but perhaps a case like this one can hammer some sense into these idiots that run Kenya. ie when the tourism operators start calling for action from the their idiotic "greenie" gov't.

My motto is "jog softly and carry a big shoulder cannon." May have served this lady well.

quote:

Mrs Martin, from Godalming, is pursuing an £800,000 civil action against the lodge, which, she said, would help to prevent other tourists from being attacked by wildlife.

The above quoted statement is what irritates me. Acting like she is taking them to court for the greater good of mankind - horseshit, she is doing it for a boatload of money.

Interesting.

As those of you who have been involved in litigation know, winning a judgment and collecting are two different things.

I hope the Lodge has, insurance, and secondly, that the insurance will pay. I doubt the first, as well as the second.

If not, it will be interesting to see if the lady who brought this case to prevent this happening to anyone else (hah!) will collect the judgment against the Lodge, most probably shutiing it down. Or maybe she will be the new owner!

Wouldn't that be fair? Take away land and a business that someone else had built up? Then she could run it. She could introduce green-friendly attractions like giving elephants a bath, or driving her pc friends around in a truck to take pictures of lions feeding.

Also interesting to note the plaintiff had just finished a stint with the British High Commission---but obviously had shit for brains once she set foot outside the consulate.

Look at what really happened here- she treks out to a lodge in the bush to be near the great beasts, goes for a run and almost dies from a goring, Then she sues them for MONEY and most likely will put them out of business. And put a number of employees out of work, or to work for her.

Maybe bankruptcy is an alternative for the lodge. Who knows under Kenyan law?

Here is her website with an account of the attack http://www.wendymartin.info/attack.htm

Personally, I wouldn't be out jogging in a game reserve in Africa where there are wild elephants unless there was a rescue vehicle driving with me. The kids and I did do game walks in RSA last June but there was an armed guard in front of us and a vehicle trailing behind us.

I wouldn't be out jogging in any reserve in South Africa where there are wild anything, including some of the cats, hyenas, rhino, buffalo, hippo, various and sundry snakes and other nasties etc. etc. Moreover, jogging or walking, especially at night, in South Africa could be a mistake also from the two legged forms of wildlife as well, since they are known to prowl, plunder, steal and take other unsavory actions during that time.

Ranchers pained by Sh150m bill for elephant's fury

Story by MWANGI NDIRANGU
Publication Date: 7/5/2007

The pastoralists invested in protection of elephants and other wild animals and the harvest was handsome. They reaped from the high number of tourists who flocked their ranch. Not any more.

The wrath of an elephant in June 2000 is now haunting more than 600 beneficiaries of the Il Ngwesi Group Ranch in Laikipia East District.

A British tourist, Mrs Wendy Susan Martin, visited Il Ngwesi Lodge and spent a wonderful night.

The following morning, Mrs Martin and her colleague decided to jog in the forested Yiari valley, which borders Mukogondo Hills.

Unknown to the unaccompanied tourists, they had ventured into a route commonly used by wildlife and they encountered a calving elephant.

The irritated animal charged at Mrs Martin and inflicted serious injuries on her. She was saved by a game ranger who scared the animal. But by then, the tourist had sustained serious injuries and was in a coma.

She was treated at local hospitals and abroad.

Three years later, Mrs Martin sued Il Ngwesi seeking compensation for body injuries and last month, a Nairobi court awarded her Sh105 million.

Following the award, hundreds of families that have relied on Il Ngwesi for their survival for the past 11 years, are now facing a bleak future.

They are spending sleepless nights fearing that their treasured Sh20 million lodge and the expansive land where it sits, could be auctioned to compensate the tourist.

Since the community conservancy project was initiated, the pastoralists stopped relying entirely on livestock and many children who previously engaged in herding went to school.

They take pride in having utilised their earnings from the ranch to build primary schools, improve infrastructure, provide water and prevent banditry and cattle rustling.

Carry the burden

But they are now scared following rumours that Il Ngwesi Group Ranch land, which covers 16,500 acres, would be auctioned to raise the compensation.

Last Monday, they invited Tourism and Wildlife minister Morris Dzoro to hear their plight.

Hundreds of residents attended the meeting at Lokusero Primary School in Mukogondo Forest.

But the minister neither turned up, nor sent a representative, prompting the attendants to direct their anger at the Government. Speakers told the meeting that they had been assisting the Government to conserve wildlife and it was unfair for them carry the burden of compensation resulting from the attack.

Il Ngwesi ward councillor Morris Kisio said they would drive away wildlife from their farms and kill some in protest before the auction.

“Our people have been killed by wild animals and we only get Sh30,000 per person as compensation. How come we are now required to pay a huge amount of money to a tourist injured by an animal owned by the State?†posed Mr Kisio.

An official of the ranch, Mzee Kipsoi Kinyaga, said the community could not be convinced that wildlife conservation was beneficial to them if the Government failed to intervene.

“What is the need of providing our land for the animals to graze, protect them from poachers and the reward you get is being told to pay more than Sh100 million?†Mzee Kinyaga asked.

Representatives from 10 community conservancy groups spread across eight districts in northern Kenya attended the meeting to express solidarity with Il Ngwesi. Councillor Jarson Ngoricho, who represented Borana Conservancy in Isiolo District, said the Kenya Wildlife Service should take liability for any injury inflicted on a human being by a wild animal.

“We don’t own the animals but we have allowed them occupy our land. If the Government does not pay the Sh105 million compensation to the tourist, we shall drive the wild animals out and start grazing our animals on the land,†Mr Ngoricho told the meeting.

Community conservation programmes were introduced a decade ago with the aim of reducing human/wildlife conflict and boosting tourism.

Communities were expected to benefit from wildlife by conserving flora and fauna in their midst.

Il Ngwesi pioneered the programme as a pilot project in 1996 and following its success, it was replicated in eight more districts.

The Northern Rangelands Trust has been spearheading the campaign to encourage the pastoral communities co-exist with wildlife. Since its inception, cases of banditry and poaching which was common in early 1990s have reduced.

Locals have benefited through improved structure, provision of water, health and education facilities as well as direct employment in the lodges established in the middle of the forest where animals roam freely.

According to Northern Rangelands Trust community development manager James Munyugi, such conservancy projects cover a total of 1.5 million acres and employ 350 people.

It is only in those areas that endangered animal species like the black rhino, African wild dog and the grey zebra can be found.

Il Ngwesi ranch has a lodge with seven cottages and generates an annual income of Sh10 million. Among the 14 lodges in the region, it is the only one fully owned and managed by the residents.

If they want armed guards when jogging I'll signup for free if it means that I can shoot an ele for free when it looks funny at us jogging past.

On a more serious note this is just more proof that the greenies cost Africa more than anything else for they so called african experience. If a hunter was gored by an ele all everyone would have said is that he knew that it was DG.

You are right Nitro X - points well made.

Bwanamich,

Thanks for that follow up article. It sort of puts things into perspective, doesn't it? The work of an entire community, including conservation efforts that benefit elephant and other wildlife, will be destroyed by this lawsuit, unless the Kenyan government intervenes - and they are ignoring the situation entirely.

Rather interesting, too, isn't it, that the government only compensates the family of a local person who is killed by an elephant to the tune of Sh30,000?

Yet this lame-brained European, who was injured by an elephant, but who survived, is somehow entitled to Sh105,000,000! No double standard there, right?

This woman should be ashamed of herself.

quote:

Originally posted by Soroko:
You are right Nitro X - points well made.

No he's not..

quote:

Originally posted by cjw:
Here is her website with an account of the attack http://www.wendymartin.info/attack.htm

Personally, I wouldn't be out jogging in a game reserve in Africa where there are wild elephants unless there was a rescue vehicle driving with me. The kids and I did do game walks in RSA last June but there was an armed guard in front of us and a vehicle trailing behind us.

Geez man why don't you just go out in a bubble.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

quote:

Originally posted by cjw:
Here is her website with an account of the attack http://www.wendymartin.info/attack.htm

Personally, I wouldn't be out jogging in a game reserve in Africa where there are wild elephants unless there was a rescue vehicle driving with me. The kids and I did do game walks in RSA last June but there was an armed guard in front of us and a vehicle trailing behind us.

Geez man why don't you just go out in a bubble.

What's wrong with having armed guards around on a game walk? He did have his children with him, in case you missed that point.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

quote:

Originally posted by Soroko:
You are right Nitro X - points well made.

No he's not..

Let's see, NitroX has been to Africa more than once, and Soroko lives there, but you know better than they do?

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

quote:

Originally posted by Soroko:
You are right Nitro X - points well made.

No he's not..

Let's see, NitroX has been to Africa more than once, and Soroko lives there, but you know better than they do?

I was refering to the part about where he agreed that the lady should be able to sue. That is the post I was refering to. I don't have to have been there to disagree with that. However my apologies if I misinterperted the post.

quote:

Originally posted by M70Nut:

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

quote:

Originally posted by cjw:
Here is her website with an account of the attack http://www.wendymartin.info/attack.htm

Personally, I wouldn't be out jogging in a game reserve in Africa where there are wild elephants unless there was a rescue vehicle driving with me. The kids and I did do game walks in RSA last June but there was an armed guard in front of us and a vehicle trailing behind us.

Geez man why don't you just go out in a bubble.

What's wrong with having armed guards around on a game walk? He did have his children with him, in case you missed that point.

I was referring to the part about a vehicle following.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

I was refering to the part about where he agreed that the lady should be able to sue. That is the post I was refering to. I don't have to have been there to disagree with that. However my apologies if I misinterperted the post.

You do not have to be there to have an opinion, but when you just say that someone is wrong without anything further and no better background it is not vey convincing

I believe that NitroX's point was that some places will not permit an armed escort (like national parks in the US) and that perhaps litigation like this would make them re-think that attitude. Soroko agreed with that.

Do you disagreee that tourists should be able to have an armed escort in a dangerous game area?

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

I was refering to the part about where he agreed that the lady should be able to sue. That is the post I was refering to. I don't have to have been there to disagree with that. However my apologies if I misinterperted the post.

You do not have to be there to have an opinion, but when you just say that someone is wrong without anything further and no better background it is not vey convincing

I believe that NitroX's point was that some places will not permit an armed escort (like national parks in the US) and that perhaps litigation like this would make them re-think that attitude. Soroko agreed with that.

Do you disagreee that tourists should be able to have an armed escort in a dangerous game area?

I think they should be allowed to have an armed guide if they so choose too. I don't agree that the lady should of been allowed to sue for a bunch of money. I think she took a risk and she paid for it and I don't think she should be entitled to a pile of money because of it.

You can Guarantee to God ! if this woman was offered an Armed Guide she would have refused the offer ! thinking ''oh we dont need THAT !!! '' we are not going out to molest the wildlife ! some people no matter what ,want someone to blaim .One woman was nearly killed by a Rhino some years ago, as she claimed it wasnt dangerous, and would not hurt her , and animals were only dangerous when harassed by those nasty hunters .

One should expect this in a wildlife reserve in Africa, no?

Here is the fallout of this award. Hundreds of people who relied on and benefitted from this resort fear they will be turned out penniless. The article also raises the issue of why when a Kenyan is killed by wildlife, they get 30,000 shillings, but the white woman gets 150 million for injuries:

article

quote:

Originally posted by 404WJJeffery:
Here is the fallout of this award. Hundreds of people who relied on and benefitted from this resort fear they will be turned out penniless. The article also raises the issue of why when a Kenyan is killed by wildlife, they get 30,000 shillings, but the white woman gets 150 million for injuries:

article

Unfortunate for those employees, but maybe this will cause other Kenyan resorts to re-think their "no-firearms" guards rules.

And if the Gov't is behind those rules, and the industry starts to suffer, well tourists can go to Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana and other places too. Wouldn't hurt for Kenya's greenie tourist trade to have a downturn anyway ie to increase the chances of a hunting industry there.

Any clown knows that running the Elephants is more dangerious than running the bulls !!!

Anyhow it is the Elephants fault for hurting an innocent tourist jogger, so therfore i suggest THE LAWYER or JUDGE try to get the money off the ELEPHANT