Three men attacked by leopard

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKThree men were attacked and seriously injured by a leopard at #Goabeb near Usakos on Monday afternoon.The environment ministry is tracking down the leopard, which has two cubs, with the intention of capturing and relocating them. According to a police report the incident occurred at around 17:00 on Monday when a shepherd, Esegiel Titifo (48), was tending to his goats in the veld. He was bitten in the left arm while he was wrestling and trying to rescue a goat from the leopard. Titifo managed to phone two friends from his cellphone. When Frans //Garoeb (39) and Enrico !Garoseb (40) arrived the scene thy were also attacked by the leopard.!Garoeb sustained serious injuries to the head and right arm while //Garoeb was bitten on the head and sustained an open wound. The three men were taken to the Usakos State Hospital for treatment and were said to be in a stable condition. Two cubsEnvironment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda confirmed that the three men were attacked in the #Gaingu Conservancy.“According to information received by the ministry, the leopard initially attacked a goat, prompting the man who was attending to the goats to attempt to rescue the goat and he eventually ended up being attacked by the leopard in the process. We also understand that the herder later called for assistance. The two people that came to assist him were also attacked and injured by the same leopard,” said Muyunda.He said the ministry had sent staff to the area yesterday morning to track the leopard. “We have so far established that the leopard has two cubs and the ministry is considering capturing and translocating the leopards to an area where they are less likely to cause problems.” CompensationThe ministry is also assisting the victims in administering payments through its self-reliance scheme of the revised policy on human wildlife conflict management for injuries sustained. According to the revised policy, injuries with no loss of body parts is paid at N$10 000, injury with loss of body parts at N$30 000 and disability paid at N$50 000.“The ministry regrets the incident and fully sympathises with victims. We wish to appeal to members of the public to be cautious and avoid approaching dangerous predators in such a manner. Incidents such as this must be reported to the ministry, the police or the nearest conservancy for intervention without necessarily having to risk lives like in this case,” said Muyunda.

Three men attacked by leopard

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-23

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Three men attacked by leopard

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-23

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