Man, 84, charges at leopard
30/09/2008 08:13 - (SA)


Buks Viljoen, Beeld

Nelspruit - An 84-year-old man charged at a female leopard and beat it with his fists when the animal attacked a woman on Monday.

The sick and weakened animal was lying in 54-year-old Joey Labuschagne's garden when she tried to touch it.

A visitor, Logan Estement, 84, rushed to her assistance and was also injured as he pulled the animal off Labuschagne.

"The leopard fought back like a demon," his daughter, Sheryl Bosman, told Beeld on Monday evening.

He was bitten on the arm and broke two ribs in the struggle.

Leopard put down

The leopard was later sedated by officials from Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and taken to the state veterinarian at Skukuza, where it was put down.

State veterinarian Dr Roy Bengis said the animal had mange and there was no food in its stomach.

The leopard had been seen in Marloth Park, near Komatipoort, for the first time a few weeks ago.

On Monday, a cleaner saw the animal lying near a house in Olifant Street, according to Vincent Beumer, manager of Field Security in Marloth Park.

"When I arrived at the house, it was chaotic. There was a horde of people and some had even gotten out of their vehicles to take photographs.

In desperation Beumer parked his vehicle between the leopard and the crowd.

Leopard 'in great distress'

"I had to do something to keep the people away from the animal. It was clear that it was in great distress. It kept growling and snarling.

"The leopard later walked into Labuschagne's yard and lay down close to the house."

He left some of his security staff at the house and went to fetch a barrier. When he returned, he heard that the leopard had attacked Labuschagne.

Witnesses said she had walked up to the animal and tried to touch it, and was then attacked.

She and Estement were rushed to the Nelspruit Medi-Clinic, and were both taken into theatre on Monday night to attend to their wounds, said hospital spokesperson Robyn Baard.

"They were not seriously hurt and are in a stable condition."

Even was my name Karl I wouldn't be trying to touch a leopard that wasn't dead yet. Nope, no way.

quote:

Originally posted by miles58:
Even was my name Karl I wouldn't be trying to touch a leopard that wasn't dead yet. Nope, no way.

Said the woman as she grabbed the sickly leopard's tail: "Nice Kitty."
Mange, feline AIDS, rabies ...

In our local newspaper (the lowvelder) the report was a bit different aparantly the woman was attacked in her home and Logan stormed to help her he wrestled the leopard of her and he and the leopard fell off the balcony the leopard was shot according to them it was a big leopard not one of the two was availeble for comment but a full interview will be in fridays paper. i will post it for you

sorry Kathi im not trying to be funny its just strange to see how 2 papers differ in their stories

Ive known a member of the media let the truth get in the way of a good story!

One must wonder if it had rabies. Nelspruit is only about a 20-25 minute drive from my home and a week or two ago they shot a rabid dog just up the road from my house...........