A game park worker, 30, is mauled to death by lions who attacked him as he walked through their reserve at night in South Africa
- The 30-year-old victim, Johannes Matshe, was an employee of Dinokeng Reserve
- His gruesome remains were discovered Monday morning by another employee
A lion has torn and eaten an employee of a game reserve in South Africa after the man took an ill-advised night walk.
The 30-year-old victim, Johannes Matshe, a reserve worker, met his horrific fate while crossing the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng after dark on Sunday evening.
At some point during the night, the big cat lunged at the unsuspecting employee, ripping him limb by limb in a ruthless attack.
Heartbreaking footage of the gruesome scene, which MailOnline chose not to publish, showed how flesh was torn from Matshe’s skull while the bone of his boot-clad leg lay twisted in the grass.
Reserve spokesman Hartogh Streicher revealed it was an unfortunate operations manager who came across the human remains at 10.37am on Monday morning.
A lion is pictured at the Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa
Streicher clarified that wandering the reserve after sunset was strictly prohibited. As he offered his condolences to Matshe’s grieving family, he solemnly reminded everyone of the danger faced by those who fail to follow the reserve’s safety rules.
“Lions are nocturnal animals, driven by their natural instincts and hunting habits, and may perceive a person as a normal prey species,” he said.
He added that the reserve was seeking expert advice on handling the lion after the attack.
“Regarding the management of the lions responsible for this killing, no decision has been made as to whether they have become unnaturally dangerous, but the reserve is receiving expert advice to make the most responsible decision possible for all parties. concerned.”
He concluded his statement with a an impassioned plea to all landowners to keep a watchful eye on their game wardens and visitors, reporting any breaches of the rules to avoid a tragic repeat of the harrowing incident.
The Hammanskraal State Police, under Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, has taken over the investigation and is trying to figure out how and why Matshe entered the reserve alone at night.
In 2018, a 22-year-old woman met a horrific end when a lion launched a deadly attack (stock image)
This is not the first time that Dinokeng Game Reserve has witnessed such a gruesome scene.
In 2018, a 22-year-old woman met an equally gruesome end when a lion launched a deadly attack.
She was accompanying a friend who had gone to speak with the director of the camp when she threw herself on her.
Following this attack, the reserve’s management sought to clarify that the attack occurred in a restricted conservation area inaccessible to the general public and involved a lion that was not part of the wild lion population in freedom of reserve.
Located in the northeastern part of Gauteng, Dinokeng Game Reserve comprises 19,000 hectares of land and is the only Big Five game reserve in the province.
Big Five is a term used to describe what hunters consider to be the most dangerous animals to pursue – the African elephant, Cape buffalo, African lion, leopard and rhinoceros.
