Leopard attacks tourist in Kuiseb

[NamStay]

A GERMAN couple touring Namibia lived through the horror of a leopard attack in the Kuiseb Canyon yesterday morning that left Hardy Specker (61) in a critical condition.

Specker and Petra Windmeisser had been in Namibia for the past two weeks, and after spending time at Swakopmund, they left through the Namib Naukluft Park three days ago.

On Wednesday, they decided to overnight in the Kuiseb Canyon, about three hours from Walvis Bay.

Windmeisser told The Namibian yesterday afternoon that around 01h00 yesterday morning when Specker was closing the camper window, a leopard jumped up the side of the van and caught him by the head with its claws and mouth.

A fight for Specker's life ensued when he was hanging halfway out the window as the big cat tried to pull him out while Windmeisser was pulling from the inside.

“The struggle went on for some minutes. Hardy eventually managed to stick his fingers into the leopard's eyes, which caused it to let him go. I then managed to pull him in. There was blood everywhere,” she recalled.

Specker's scalp was torn from the skull, while his shoulder and arms were shredded. He also had a wound on his throat.

The couple stayed in their camper, too scared to do anything because the leopard had jumped on the roof at times and moved around the vehicle for the remainder of the night.

“Specker was losing a lot of blood, but he remained conscious. We screamed and made noise and used light, but the animal remained there,” she said.

Around 07h00, farmers saw the distressing scene and chased the leopard away. They managed to help the couple and summoned EMed Rescue to meet them halfway.

They were taken to the Welwitschia Private Hospital at Walvis Bay, where Specker immediately underwent surgery.

Windmeisser said they hope to leave Namibia as soon as possible for him to receive medical treatment at home in Germany.

Source: https://www.namibian.com.na/66346/read/Leopard-attacks-tourist-in-Kuiseb

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[NamStay]

Another Article from Informantè http://www.informante.web.na/news-loc

Leopard attacks tourist in Kuiseb Canyon

Niel Terblanche
A leopard attacked and seriously injured a man visiting Namibia while he was camping in the Kuiseb River Canyon on the edge of the Namib Desert.
It is suspected that poachers wounded the animal in the Dorob National Park which caused the enraged leopard to viciously attack the man.
According to Mr. Wilfred Andreas, an employee of a well-known lodge in the area of Solitaire, the circumstances surrounding the attack on the visitor from Germany are very mysterious.
He said he was driving from the direction of Solitaire towards Walvis Bay when he saw an overland camping truck below the road in the gorge of the river. According to Andreas, the driver of the truck was blasting the hooter to get his attention.
“I drove towards the truck to see how I can assist and when I got to it a woman alighted from the cab. She was in a panicked state and told me what happened.”
Andreas said the woman told him that her husband was attacked by a leopard during the night. She told him that they were woken by a noise at about 01:00 in the morning and when her husband got up to close an open window near to where they were sleeping inside the truck, the enraged animal grabbed her husband and attempted to drag him outside.
“She said she grabbed her husband’s feet and pulled him back inside the vehicle. After that she closed the window and helped her bleeding husband.”
He said the man was severely injured and that the truck was covered in blood on the inside and outside.
“I drove the truck to Walvis Bay and on the way I phoned people in town to call an ambulance that could meet us on the way because the man was bleeding badly. We met the ambulance about 40 kilometres outside of town and both the man and his wife were taken straight to hospital where surgery was performed on him. The man had deep scratches on his head, neck, arms and chest.”
According to Andreas, the woman told him that they saw another vehicle close to where they were camping but after the attack when she tried to get help the car was nowhere to be found which led him to believe that poachers wounded the animal causing it to attack the tourist in an enraged state.
“The whole scene was very strange. There was blood high up on the truck close to the window and I found deep scratch marks on the aluminium body of the vehicle. The fact that the leopard attacked the man and vehicle afterwards can only mean that it was wounded by someone who shot it.”
He said when he realised that the visitor was attacked by a leopard he immediately drove towards Walvis Bay because he did not know if the animal was still in the vicinity and if it would attack again.

 

[Eventually_Africa_Again]

Hopes for a speedy recovery for the innocent tourists and a debilitating case of "spotted fever" for the poachers.

 

[jeff]

Seems they are making a big assumption that the cat was wounded without facts or proof!

 

[Fred Gunner]

414 days until my Namibian Leopard Safari! Kuiseb Canyon is not more than 60 miles from Ilala Private Game Reserve one of Makadi Safaris main camps...Bad luck for the tourists but good news for me.

 

[Fred Gunner]

(Lord I'm going to hell for this post...wait the Pope canceled hell during Easter I'm good) (hits post reply)

 

[BRICKBURN]

Anyone remember this thread?
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/woman-in-botswana-mauled-by-leopard-inside-her-tent.41958/

Leopard being attracted to a camp ground and not being taken seriously prior to an attack.

Makes you wonder!

 

[GywEat]

Please remember, that everyone can read what you are writing. Hardy is a friend of mine and my family. I just got the news and we are all shocked. He is traveling for years and always knew what to do. This is definitly not his fault.

I just registered to this website to let you know that he has family and friends. Please be respectful

 

[BRICKBURN]

I hope your friend is recovering well at home.

I meant no disrespect with my post.
My intimation was that your friend could likely have been a sad victim of tourist ignorance.

It is obvious from multiple other incidents that tourists, over a long period of time, are feeding predators near these remote camps. They feed these animals with complete ignorance of the potential consequences to those who may follow, and in some cases themselves.

We have the same type of behavior in our national parks and many predators end up being shot because they are habituated to humans through no fault of their own.

 

[GywEat]

Thank you.

I am not sure how much was told in english news but they were asleep and were waked by a scraching noise. Then Hardy wanted to close the window when he was attacked. That is all I know at the moment but I am a 100 % sure he or his wife didn't try to feed any animals.

My parents wanted to follow them for a few weeks and I am relieved now that they stay in Germany.

Right now Hardy is still in Africa until he recovered well enough. But the camper will be shipped back to Germany soon. I just hope he will keep his high spirits.

 

[GywEat]

And I hope my mother will never ever see the pictures above

 

[BRICKBURN]

...........I am a 100 % sure he or his wife didn't try to feed any animals. ............

Given what you just shared, someone was likely feeding that Leopard to have it come "begging" at a vehicle like that. A very sad result.

 

[GywEat]

I read in another article that the leopard was probably attacked by poachers and was mad. Of course I am not a hunter and have no other knowlege of a leopards psyche but it could be an explanation. Otherwise animals can just like humans behave in a very irrational way. But whatever really motivated the cat to do what it did I do not blame the animal nor do I blame Hardy or Petra.

They always prepare very well for their trips, stay for at least six months in the countries, even learn the language. When they go they always know how to behave.

 

[Dr Ray]

Another Article from Informantè http://www.informante.web.na/news-loc

View attachment 224697

Leopard attacks tourist in Kuiseb Canyon

Niel Terblanche
A leopard attacked and seriously injured a man visiting Namibia while he was camping in the Kuiseb River Canyon on the edge of the Namib Desert.
It is suspected that poachers wounded the animal in the Dorob National Park which caused the enraged leopard to viciously attack the man.
According to Mr. Wilfred Andreas, an employee of a well-known lodge in the area of Solitaire, the circumstances surrounding the attack on the visitor from Germany are very mysterious.
He said he was driving from the direction of Solitaire towards Walvis Bay when he saw an overland camping truck below the road in the gorge of the river. According to Andreas, the driver of the truck was blasting the hooter to get his attention.
“I drove towards the truck to see how I can assist and when I got to it a woman alighted from the cab. She was in a panicked state and told me what happened.”
Andreas said the woman told him that her husband was attacked by a leopard during the night. She told him that they were woken by a noise at about 01:00 in the morning and when her husband got up to close an open window near to where they were sleeping inside the truck, the enraged animal grabbed her husband and attempted to drag him outside.
“She said she grabbed her husband’s feet and pulled him back inside the vehicle. After that she closed the window and helped her bleeding husband.”
He said the man was severely injured and that the truck was covered in blood on the inside and outside.
“I drove the truck to Walvis Bay and on the way I phoned people in town to call an ambulance that could meet us on the way because the man was bleeding badly. We met the ambulance about 40 kilometres outside of town and both the man and his wife were taken straight to hospital where surgery was performed on him. The man had deep scratches on his head, neck, arms and chest.”
According to Andreas, the woman told him that they saw another vehicle close to where they were camping but after the attack when she tried to get help the car was nowhere to be found which led him to believe that poachers wounded the animal causing it to attack the tourist in an enraged state.
“The whole scene was very strange. There was blood high up on the truck close to the window and I found deep scratch marks on the aluminium body of the vehicle. The fact that the leopard attacked the man and vehicle afterwards can only mean that it was wounded by someone who shot it.”
He said when he realised that the visitor was attacked by a leopard he immediately drove towards Walvis Bay because he did not know if the animal was still in the vicinity and if it would attack again.

I wish you a quick recovery. Just shows how careful we need to be and not get complacent, ever!

 

[Britt Beck]

Hopes for a speedy recovery.

 

[CAustin]

I hope the man recovers quickly.

 

[cagkt3]

Wow, hoping the gent recovers quickly