Hunter shoots leopard pinning him down
2010-11-14 23:12




Seugnet Esterhuyse, Beeld
Pretoria - A professional hunter from Bela-Bela shot and killed an angry, wounded leopard in Tanzania while being pinned down by the animal.

"I never really saw the leopard," said Jaco Oosthuizen, 37, founder of Game Trackers Africa.

"I was reacting on gut feel and hearing. I swung around and shot, but then it got hold of my right arm."

According to Oosthuizen, the leopard - which had sought shelter next to a dry riverbed - was about six paces to his right when it jumped at him.

The animal tore the muscles in his right arm.

Oosthuizen, who is left-handed, fired a shot before the animal pinned him by the chest.

"Then I started losing sensation in my right arm.

"It was the second shot from my double-barrel shotgun that hit the leopard while it was on top of me," Oosthuizen said about his narrow escape on November 4.

Wounded

The leopard had been wounded more than an hour earlier by a Mexican hunter - one of Oosthuizen's regular clients - who had been trying to shoot the animal as a trophy.

After being wounded, the leopard fled. Trackers were called by radio to help search for the wounded animal.

According to Oosthuizen, they had waited over an hour in order to reduce the "risk of danger" and give the animal time to "cool down", since the injured leopard would be upset and ferocious.

By that time it was already dark.

Since Oosthuizen and his trackers were about two hours away from their camp, his wounds were only disinfected and treated the next morning under local anaesthesia in the nearest village.

Muscles

He flew to Dar es Salaam where he was given stitches, but the doctor was unable to do anything to re-attach his muscles.

Two days later, Oosthuizen left for Johannesburg on a commercial flight.

He was taken to Pretoria East hospital where his muscles were re-attached during two operations.

Oosthuizen was discharged from hospital last week. His arm is still in a cast.

Oosthuizen said the dead (male) leopard was tracked down by another professional hunter.

"According to one of my trackers, the leopard was very old, going by the size of its scull."

Here is a direct link to the article:

Tanzania: Hunter shoots leopard pinning him down


Cheers,

~ Alam

Here is an e-mail update I received on Friday.
I have been working with Jaco for eight years. He is a wonderful guy and we wish him the best.

Jaco Oosthuizen was attacked by a leopard on Thursday, November 4, 2010. He was hunting in the Selous with repeat client, Jose DeAnda. After leaving his clients on the truck for safety, Jaco tracked the wounded leopard into a creek bottom with his trackers, Nyoka, Ndinga and Baraka. They located the leopard tracks leaving the creek and almost immediately noticed rustling in the brush just out of the creek. The leopard jumped from a mere 5 feet away and Jaco shot him in mid-air which proved to be a fatal shot but not before the cat got hold of his right arm. He sustained several lacerations, one of which actually tore a large section of muscle from his right bicep, but was treated at the nearby game post and then subsequently at the hospital in Dar the following morning. He is now recouperating in South Africa having undergone two surgeries to clean infection from the wounds and one to repair the torn muscle tissue. He is still battling some infection and praying that the muscle reattachment surgery is successful, but he is improving day by day. We thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and notes of encouragement during what was a pretty frightening ordeal. Nyoka, Ndinga and Baraka are all safe and were unharmed and the leopard was recovered thanks to their superior efforts!!

Tim416 :

Was it a big cat? - The Selous can sure produce some serious toms.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:
Tim416 :

Was it a big cat? - The Selous can sure produce some serious toms.

This is all the info I have at this time. I will pass along further details as I get them.

Sounds like a reason to have Global Rescue....based on their literature and claims