Wild Cats Should Not be Killed When They Attack People

Wild cat attacks on people are invariably the fault of a person or persons. There is no fault on behalf of the cat. The cat should be left alone after the attack.

When a wild cat attacks a person in a safari park or a reserve the cat should not be killed. The cat is acting naturally. The people are in the cat’s park. The people are looking at the cat and photographing it. If the cat is ill and desperate for food he might attack a person if that person is careless enough to allow it. This is the person’s fault. Therefore the cat does nothing wrong and should be left alone.

Sadly, what I would consider to be common sense as spelled out above does not take place that often. It certainly did not happen recently in the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

A British safari guide was attacked by a starving and ill leopard. The leopard leapt at Curtis Plumb’s arm and bit it. Why was his arm in a position to be bitten by a leopard? Isn’t it the responsibility of a safari tour guide to take the usual precautionary measures and set a good example?

Curtis could not get the cat off his arm despite punching it. This occurred as Curtis was inside his pick up truck. He must have had his arm resting on the window. Passengers inside the truck hit the cat with cameras to no avail.

The driver of another vehicle smashed his door against the leopard repeatedly. The leopard let go of Curtis’s arm.

“Without warning or provocation, the leopard launched itself into the safari truck and grabbed the ranger’s arm. Fortunately he had a bush jacket on.”

The leopard was clearly starving and was thin with blunt fangs, it is said. It would appear that the leopard was struggling to survive and was forced to attack easier prey – the human.

The leopard attacked again, jumping onto the car. The guide then ran over the leopard injuring its hind legs. Then a mini-van drove over the leopard and seriously injured it. The leopard crawled into the bush nearby where it was killed. I presume shot.

There is a stack of BS in the news about this. A witness said the guide’s life was saved by the person who slammed the door against the leopard. I don’t see the guide’s life being in danger (look at his face in the photo). The leopard had grabbed his thick clothing in his blunt jaws. We have no reports on the guide’s injuries which I therefore presume are slight.

They could have dealt with this far better in my opinion. The tourists are there to see the big cats and other wildlife. I’d like to see them respected more and left alone to live. They should not be killed because a safari guide screwed up.