Nyamera

In March a Swedish woman was attacked by a lioness when her safari group were waiting for help outside their vehicle that was stuck in the mud. One of her travel companions tells the newspapers that he hit the lioness in the neck with a piece of wood and that his 62-year old lady partner started wrestling the lioness that didn’t let go until the driver hit her in the head with the crank of the jack. The lost prey was taken to hospital in Nairobi with severe bite wounds and stayed there for a week. It doesn’t say in which park this happened.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyhete...813526,00.html
(in Swedish)

tuskerdave

sorry sue, cant read this article-i got land-rover thats pretty much it. at first thought it had to be a mini-bus. what else would get stuck. was it a regular safari driver or self-drivers?
tell me they are not blaming the lioness.
see ya, d

Nyamera

They were not self driving. About the lioness it says that she attacked from some bushes 4-5 metres away from the tourists and that she ran away after the driver hit her on the head. There’s nothing about who’s blamed. The closeness to the bushes makes me doubt the driver’s judgement, but I’d blame it on the cha cha cha.

mkhonzo

Uhhh..
Someone noted, stuck in the mud...implies that the driver never chose to be 4/5 m from the bushes.
Whats the point of aportioning blame? She survived and for that she is lucky.

I am sure she signed a letter indemnifying the guide of liability.

Nyamera

You don’t HAVE TO get out of the vehicle when you’re stuck in the mud and waiting for help, do you? Anyway, I blamed it on the cha cha cha and not on the driver.

I found a slightly different English version.

http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?I...07b904f4164c4f

africnow

GULP !!!!

lbj

Nyamera,

I would stop making assumptions because that article is hardly the most informative. The guy quizzed is probably suffering PTS anyway.

We all know how difficult it can be to spot lions in the grass/bushes. So they may not have spotted it until they has disembarked.

AS to to getting out of a vehichle when it is stuck, well, i was always taught F = MA

Nyamera

Ibj,

I’m not that good at physics. What does F=MA has to do with it? Is it about pushing? It says they were waiting be pulled out. To avoid assumptions I shouldn’t have posted this in the first place. Now I’ll have to post more links when there’s more information. Actually, there’re already several slightly different articles.

tuskerdave

hi sue, yep this article says enough-the driver and others with the clients pulled a boner! (Brynervall saw the lion in the bushes five metres away. He thought at first that the animal would not attack five people in a group. But the lion looked as though it was preparing to pounce.)
they should have never allowed those clients to get out.even if they didnt see lion-you dont get out with that much bush. the driver should have tried to scare the lion off-horn, banging, ect-if not-your in the mud stuck-you have to wait for help.
sue, you know kashu would never allow this.hell, i wanted to help a hurt black momba off the road going back towards norok town-he said-NO TOO RISKY!
hope the lady will be ok.
d

Nyamera

D,
I’ve got off the vehicle in places like that (flat tyres several times in the Mara). I think it was already too late when Brynervall saw the lioness, but, as said, we need more information.
Maybe, maybe the risk had more to do with the black mamba itself than possible lions? Anyway, I think Kashu should have let you help it.

siro

I'm not quite sure what lionkillings in a chinese zoo and a russian circus has to do with anything (in the article)....

tuskerdave

sue, kashu is in charge-he can not let me risk it. but i wanted to badly.
sue, it seems though the lion was seen before they even got out-they thought the lion would not attempt an attack. either way-the lion was seen-they messed up.
d

tuskerdave

hey guys, just thought of something-a lion only needs about 30feet to attack.thats less than 10meters. this lion they said was 4/5 meters away!this is before the lioness attacked-or else how could they know how far she was away.
d

divewop

A couple of years ago when I was in the Serengeti, we were in our truck and watched a couple of park rangers stop their vehicle to move some rocks off of one of the roads.
There were a few lions about 10-15 meters away watching the rangers, as we were watching all of this.

As long as the rangers were in their truck the lions took no notice. Interestingly enough, as soon as the rangers had one foot out of the truck, the lions ears went back and they all took position as if they were going to either mock charge or actually charge.
The lions demeanor flipped on and off like a switch.
Just goes to show you how the rangers became fair game once they stepped foot out of the truck.

Even though they are habituated to trucks, when the opportunity presents itself with someone on foot in their territory, lions will attack. It's their instinct and it's their nature.

Unless you're absolutely sure you're in a safe area and there's no danger, I would recommend staying in the truck.

cary999

Do rangers have rifles in Tanzania? I would have shot that beast right between the eyes!!!
regards - tom

sandi

divewop -

Absolutely.. put your feet on the ground and you're a meal ready to be eaten.

lovetodiscover

Good advice. One issue I've got is how do you manage bio breaks? Understand now not to leave vehicle even if breaks down. But the other.... how long can one wait?

Roccco

I wish there were more details on the area that this occurred, the ground operator, etc.

It was for this potential reason that I was pretty freaked out by the lions at Mbuzi Mawe and did not find them as amusing as some of the less experienced safarigoers.

luangwablondes

lovetodiscover

I've had a lot nervous nellies with me before. The only way to resolve that-Find a place reasonably in the open- the men walk to the front,the women to the rear of the vehicle and no peeking.(I didn't hear a thing).

One thing that might have been the turning point for the group is that after biting the sour old lady, the lioness decided that humans were not that tasty and she wasn't that desperate. Trying to get a lioness off a kill normally is a fairly iffy proposition.

Lin

This is interesting as when I stayed at Pom Pom Camp in the Okavango, our vehicle (landrover not minibus) got stuck in the mud twice and we were asked to get out. In fact we sat on top of a poncho for about an hour in the grass. I would NOT do this now, but it was our first safari and we trusted the guide. Only later did we understand how easily a lion could have been sitting near us in the tall grass. This story should be a lesson to all of us. I for one have gotten way too careless about potty breaks - just hop off at any old time. When I return in June I'll remember this.