Father and son killed by wildebeest

This is how Phyllis Sephton-Borrowdale described the scene on a mountain crest in the Barkly East area where highly respected farmer and DA councillor Michael Moore, 59, and his son John, believed to be in his 30s, were killed in a horrific incident involving attack on his family by black wildebeest at the weekend.

The incident left Moore’s daughter Julie, 22, critically injured with head and face injuries. She was undergoing surgery yesterday. Her mother Adele, managed to escape unharmed.

The family are from Mondamin farm outside Maclear, from where they run a number of enterprises in the tourism and agricultural industries.

An emotional Sephton-Borrowdale, who is the chairwoman of the DA in the nearby Maclear region and a close family friend of the Moores, said and particularly of Adele Moore – revealed yesterday that she had received a frantic cellphone call for help soon after noon at about 12.30pm on Saturday from Adele her friend, who was involved in the attack, immediately after the animals had charged.

“It was absolute chaos. This was an extremely shocking event. Adele had been hiking with her husband, son and daughter. I don’t want to go into specifics because I was not there. But I understand they were hiking from one of their farms to another.

“They had apparently hiked up a mountain in the direction of Rhodes and to a crest where the attack took place. Adele called me from on top of the mountain. I then immediately tried to assist,” she said, adding that the entire Maclear community was in shock over the incident.

“The Moores are a very highly regarded family and are very well known in the broader community. This is a terrible thing. I have known the Moores for many, many years.

“Adele is obviously in a state of shock and trauma, as are the rest of the Moore family and their friends. For one family to lose a father and a son in one incident is absolutely terrible.”

Sephton-Borrowdale said Moore had been very active in the upliftment of his community, and particularly among the poor.

She named the electrification of schools in the area as being among the projects he had been involved in.

“He was also a very successful farmer and was known for breeding Bonsmara cattle.

“Besides John, who was well known for his work with horses, and Julie his daughter, he also had three other sons – Dave, who farmed with his father, Luke and Robin. They have come to be with the family. Michael was an outstanding citizen; he was a hero in our community,” she said.

A resident in the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to close ties with the family, said it was believed that the family had been attacked initially by one wildebeest and then by another.

“We are not yet sure of exactly what happened. We also know that some farmers are known to keep wildebeest as a deterrent against stocktheft. There is a very strong, close farming community in that area.

“The farmers rallied together to go to the family’s rescue,” the resident said, adding that emergency services, including a helicopter, had been called to assist.

When asked whether the men had been killed instantly, the source said it was believed they had not died immediately.

Elliot-based police spokeswoman Captain Ursula Roelofse said the family had come across the a herd of wildebeest which then stormed them and trampled the two men to death.

“While the incident happed earlier in the day, the police were only notified at about 3pm on Saturday. The police were not involved in assisting the family. As this does not involve a crime, nobody has been charged. An inquest docket which will investigate the deaths has however been opened,” Roelofse said.

She said according to her information, a herd of wildebeest had been present, but that two had broken away from the herd and then attacked the family.

A number of messages of condolences were posted on the Moores’ Facebook pages yesterday.

The family could not be reached for comment and no further details were available yesterday.