Researcher Narrates How He Escaped Jaws Of A Hungry Lion
Thalefang Charles | Monday December 14, 2020 16:32
Neef, who is a Namibian and experienced biodiversity researcher, was on a research field trip to monitor the spread of the highly invasive aquatic plant Salvinia molesta (originally from South America), which is spreading across parts of the Okavango Delta. He was with seven other BWBT team members when the lion tried to pull him out of his two-man ripstop nylon tent in the middle of the night.
“I heard something move around my tent, looked at the time, it was 1.26am, then saw a head pressing against my tent and recognised a nose. I did not know what was outside my tent. I started calling for help and then hit the nose with my fist as hard as possible as a last resort as the tent started to collapse,” Neef narrated the incident while recuperating from a Windhoek hospital.
He said his research teammates were rudely awakened by the scuffle and ran out half-naked to help.
“I heard my teammates shouting that it’s a 'lion' at my tent and I moved into a corner of my tent and tried to push the lion away with my sleeping bag. The lion started to bite me and got me on my head but I managed to pull my head away and pushed my left elbow in his face. The lion started biting my arm and I screamed.'
His research team, which included legendary guide Water Setlabosha, who is the BWBT head guide, said he fired the safety bear banger in an attempt to scare the lion but it did not work.
Another researcher Dr Rainer von Brandis, hurled logs, elephant dung, and anything he could get his hands on at the animal, hitting it on the head with a branch, but the lion did not budge.
When Setlabosha realised that the situation was headed for the worst, he got into one of the Land Cruisers and ran over the lion multiple times before it released, thus managing to free Neef from its crushing jaws.
He was then rushed to a private clinic in Maun and later airlifted to his home country. Neef was released from hospital on Saturday to continue his recovery at home.
The lion, which The Monitor managed to get an image of, was an old, thin male, with protruding bones and was shot down with instruction from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.
Old male lions are usually killed by the agile younger ones or chased away from their pride and left to fend for themselves. Banished, old males are usually frail and fail to make their own kill to survive the wild, They are often left to scavenge for food.