WHEN a Port St Johns man came face-to-face with one of Africa’s fiercest predators he thought his life would be over in minutes.
Then the leopard pounced at him, claws out and teeth bared, and bit him – but he managed to fight it off with his knobkierrie.
On the afternoon of May 27 Nqabholwana Rasmeni of Ntsimbini administrative area was walking around the village when the chief of Ntsimbini phoned him and asked him to check on a wild animal spotted by boys of another village while herding cattle.
“ I walked through the bush looking for it, I saw this leopard looking at me. I got the shock of my life . I knew if I turned and ran he would pounce on my back and kill me.
“He roared and sprang from the shrubs, claws out, straight at me. I reached for my gun and fired twice. I think I got him but he still came for my face.
“One of his teeth tore my nose. I hit him with my knobkerrie and he bit my chest. I felt my right arm convulsing and lost feeling on it.
“The leopard then ran away and disappeared in the bushes.”
Rasmeni said it was the first time he had come across a leopard.
“I have never seen anything like it. I don’t think it would have attacked a human but I think it had been startled by the boys and was in defence mode when it saw me.”
Rasmeni said he suffered from severe headaches since the attack.
“Aside from the headaches I get spasms in my right arm and the wound is septic even though I was given medication at hospital.”
Chief Sivuyile Msungubali said the leopard was thought initially to be a lynx because they are prevalent in the area. “I asked to assist. He arrived and the next thing we heard was the loud roar of the animal and the two shots. When we got there it had already attacked him and disappeared.”
The following day villagers hunted the leopard and killed it.
E nvironmentalist Basil Mills said leopards were shy animals and would not attack unless hunted. “If it feels cornered and feels it cannot get out it might attack. One never knows what will happen.”
He said the Cape leopard was very rare in the area.
How I survived a vicious attack by a wild leopard
Then the leopard pounced at him, claws out and teeth bared, and bit him – but he managed to fight it off with his knobkierrie.
On the afternoon of May 27 Nqabholwana Rasmeni of Ntsimbini administrative area was walking around the village when the chief of Ntsimbini phoned him and asked him to check on a wild animal spotted by boys of another village while herding cattle.
“ I walked through the bush looking for it, I saw this leopard looking at me. I got the shock of my life . I knew if I turned and ran he would pounce on my back and kill me.
“He roared and sprang from the shrubs, claws out, straight at me. I reached for my gun and fired twice. I think I got him but he still came for my face.
“One of his teeth tore my nose. I hit him with my knobkerrie and he bit my chest. I felt my right arm convulsing and lost feeling on it.
“The leopard then ran away and disappeared in the bushes.”
Rasmeni said it was the first time he had come across a leopard.
“I have never seen anything like it. I don’t think it would have attacked a human but I think it had been startled by the boys and was in defence mode when it saw me.”
Rasmeni said he suffered from severe headaches since the attack.
“Aside from the headaches I get spasms in my right arm and the wound is septic even though I was given medication at hospital.”
Chief Sivuyile Msungubali said the leopard was thought initially to be a lynx because they are prevalent in the area. “I asked to assist. He arrived and the next thing we heard was the loud roar of the animal and the two shots. When we got there it had already attacked him and disappeared.”
The following day villagers hunted the leopard and killed it.
E nvironmentalist Basil Mills said leopards were shy animals and would not attack unless hunted. “If it feels cornered and feels it cannot get out it might attack. One never knows what will happen.”
He said the Cape leopard was very rare in the area.
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