Has anyone seen statistics on how many hunters die each year in pursuit of Buffalo? My spouse has only recently realized there is an element of danger on our upcoming trip. I'd like to give her some perspective.

Hippo's and Crocs get a lot of people, I am not sure about buff.

Bob Fontana got killed, but thats the only one I remember off the top of my head. Nicki Atchenson got wounded by one.

I think Death by Buff is way down on the list of things to die of.

I would hazard a guess that currently it is DEFINATELY less than 10 per year killed by cape buffalo in Africa, and that includes BOTH clients and/or Professional Hunters.

From my bad memory I recall at least 2-3 PH or ranch owners being taken out last year, and maybe the same number of clients.

The above guestemate [ EXCLUDES ] local villiagers and tribespeople as these statistics are a lot higher and often dont actually make the news

Happy days

Cheers, Peter

Because deaths and accidents are used as PR to promote cape buffalo sales I think we pretty much hear about every incident on the 'net from the shills.

I doubt it is NOTHING like ten per year for clients and PHs. Ten in a year for deaths would be a very very bad year and certainly the worst I remember was about five.

I do not agree that all incedents make the press to promote cape buffalo sales. I do not know the exact figure, but I do know that 2 people were killed last year (seperate incidents) within 400km from where I live. This is not really buff country, so I can imagine if you take the rest of Africa (with plenty more buff) the figure could go up to 10 a year. I would say at least 20 hunters (PH or clients) are tossed a year, with a very high survival rate for toss only. (Guess, not fact) The fact is, they are dangerous to follow, wounded or not.

Karl S

The question, was how many die?

When there is a highly publicised incident of a buffalo mauling or killing, sales of cape buffalo hunts go up.

Peter Capstick "re-made" (according to some here or in the past here) with his "Death in the ...." books. Mark Sullivan sells videos and probably helps a lot of outfitters sell more buffalo hunts with his charge videos. Every budding or established US gunwriter always seems to get charged by his cape buffalo in his story.

All helps promote the mystique and danger (and saleability) of a herd bovine.

Strange but need I say more.


PS If I am ever squashed by one, you can point the finger at me. I won't care!

quote:

Originally posted by citori:
Has anyone seen statistics on how many hunters die each year in pursuit of Buffalo? My spouse has only recently realized there is an element of danger on our upcoming trip. I'd like to give her some perspective.

I was wondering whether she's worried about you as the hunter, herself or you both if she's planning to be with you.
Then there is possible dangers of other animals/reptiles getting in on the act.

I won't mention the traveling.

But then people in cities get killed by thugs on the way home from a night out on the town.

Looking at the parks records for zim for the past 25 years (which are probably not complete) but

1 PH
4 citizen hunters
2 clients
14 game scouts/lph's
Pro Guides 2
Tourists 14
Sundry council scouts, Police, and vet/Tsetse "magotchas" 63

Bear in mind that most of the fatalities in the vet/tsetse ranks were duing the buffalo erradication programme. Government people got the job of following up all wounded buff that got out of the killing zone. Alot of farmers, citizen hunters, wanabe hunters did the shooting, but left the follow ups of the wounded to government personel who were (under) paid to do the dirty work.

Seriously - a spanish client behind and a pig in front is a far more dangerous situation than any buff. ( 11 PH's / Appys have been shot by clients in the same period)

Ganyana,

As those were the buff fatalities, do you have any numbers regarding elephant fatalities in Zim the last 25 years?

As I say, records are a mess and who was a council scout with a .303 and who was a vet "magotcha" with a .425 or a parks game scout with a .458 is unclear. tourists vs hunters is also a little blurred in two cases.

but roughly

PH's 4
Pro guides 4
Citizen Hunters 7
Parks/Vet/tsetse/council control staff 37
Clients 3
Tourists 11

A safari hunter is much more at risk from vehicle accidents, light plane crashes, disease, allergic reaction or heart attack than they are from a buffalo.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
... roughly

PH's 4
Pro guides 4
Citizen Hunters 7
Parks/Vet/tsetse/council control staff 37
Clients 3
Tourists 11

If you are not on the payroll, it seems being a tourist is damned dangerous.

"If you are not on the payroll, it seems being a tourist is damned dangerous. "

But not as dangerous as forgetting the tip...

Those numbers make buff sound more dangerous than ele.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Those numbers make buff sound more dangerous than ele.

A lot more people hunt buffalo than elephants.

excellent thread. I think the reality is that hunting in Africa is adventurous and has some risks but most of those risks are from light planes drivers, diseases and accidental discharges. The otherside of the coin, in my experience, with only three trips is that an injury that would be only a serious inconvenience in the USA can be a life threatening occurance in the african bush.
es.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
"If you are not on the payroll, it seems being a tourist is damned dangerous. "

But not as dangerous as forgetting the tip...

Ganyana

The only PH I forgot to tip was your motor-bike riding friend on my first safari as I didn't realise "Professionals" get a tip till after!

The other real danger for a professional, having just re-watched Mogambo tonight is to wink at the clients wife. The same fellow did that to my wife and suddenly got all worried and apologised. I didn't even notice it.

Maybe your comment about Spanish hunters and being in between in the way of a pig or warthog. I think the same fellow has a crease or scar on his scalp from a bullet from just about the same scenario. Or was it due to a wink (or more) to the client's Senora.

During the period I owned Kilombero North Safaris I tried to keep track of the number of people killed by wild animals in that hunting block.

Its difficult with buffalo because the people normally killed are poachers using inadequate firearms who have wounded buffalo and everybody knows that.

Their friends do not report their deaths and in fact hide them because the police are liable to beat them up to get a poaching confession.

But even so we still had a few people brought into camp badly gored (all of whom died) because their friends knew we had a vehicle and could take them to Ifakara hospital. One day at Fibwe we arrived just as a man killed by a buffalo was being buried.

The most killed in one year by buffalo that I knew of was six and one year I heard of none. Most years it was one or two that I heard about.

There are no trees on the Kilombero flood plain so a poorly armed poacher is cooked if he gets charged away from a deep river. There is no place to run and no place to hide except in a river.

In Miombo woodland poachers can follow along behind a wounded buffalo, picking away at him, and climb up a tree whenever it charges.

VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Outdoor life mag just did a little page about this and this is what they found in 2005
#1 crocodile 13 deaths first 10 months
#2 elephant 12 deaths
#3 hippo 1 death
tied for #3 buffalo 1 death
#5 lion 0 deaths

I don't know what the Outdoor Life survey is about. If its one hunting block it might be right. If its all of Africa it is really inaccurate. Wild animals certainly kill hundreds of people every year in Africa and likely thousands.

VBR,

Ted Gorsline

Raymond Theron, whom I hunted with in june 2005 was killed just days after I got home. He was not hunting at the time, but a cape buffalo none the less.