KNP Ranger Tells Of His Harrowing Ordeal With Lion

Living in the Kruger National Park can be exhilarating and even life –threatening at times. This story on KNP’s ranger, Gus Adendorff’s close encounter with a lioness was first published in the February 1986 edition of the Custos. This wildlife conservation magazine was the flagship of South African National Parks from 1971 until 1998. Recently, as part of a SANParks honorary rangers project, the magazines were recaptured on a DVD-set. This story of Adendorff, as told by Arie Minnaar, is a taste of what appears inside the Custos pages...

“I can recall one incident at Shingwedzi when tourists reported a lion with a snare around its neck and body. It was near the tourist road, six or more kilometres from the camp. It was just after sunset and i immediately went to the place they indicated. When I arrived there, I spotted four lions. One of the females did not get up and assumed a threatening pose. I drove to within a few meters of her. My immediate presence forced her to stand up. The snare as clearly visible. It had already cut through her skin and her entrails started protruding on the side of her stomach. Limping, she fled onto the undergrowth. I did not have my dogs with me and decided to wait until the next morning. At the crack of dawn a few rangers, three of my dogs and I went to where I had seen her the previous evening. The dogs easily picked up her scent and in hot pursuit they charged into the undergrowth, the rangers and I followed close behind. I suspected that she would be laying dead somewhere. Deeper into the bush, the dogs followed the wounded lioness blood spoor. We went on for about five kilometres. The sun was becoming scorching hot. Thorns and reeds scratched our exposed limbs and we stopped to drink water. I was standing in the shade of a tree, lighting a cigarette. Now and again the excited barking of the dogs could be heard as they scented the fresh spoor. Suddenly the tone of their barking changed. I knew by the sound they found something. Distinguishable from their barking, the growling of the furious lioness was clearly audible. Then the dogs were quiet. One of them howled, and in an instant they ere speeding towards us with the lioness following on their heels. When she spotted me, she changed direction. With great bounds she charged towards me. There as a large Mopani tree to the left. I ran to it to steady the rifle on one of its branches, but time was running out. She was nearly upon me and I was forced to shoot. I can still see her in my imagination – fire in her eyes, mouth gaping and curved yellow canines glistening in the sun. I pulled the trigger. Luckily the bullet hit her in the chest, and her head sagged. The momentum of her body made her fall head over heels a few times. She came to a standstill a few paces away from me. My helpers and dogs had all taken to their heels. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Everything had happened so fast an unexpectedly. If that last shot had missed the mark, I would have been dead.”

SANPARKS TIMES NEWSPAPER MARCH 2013