Slider
How a flip-flop cost the life of a tour guide:USA tourist narrates the Victoria Falls elephant attack
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Conflict between humans and elephants is more intense in Zimbabwe – over 60 people are killed every year. Clashes are particularly frequent in areas close to the national and at times, such tragedies happen during the tour activities.
On December 23 last year, Jason Hansen, a tourist from the United States of America, together with his family witnessed a tour guide being trampled and gored by one of the domesticated elephants during an elephant ride at one of the tour companies.
The conflict, according to Hansen, happened after one of the tourist’s children dropped a shoe and the elephant attacker’s calf picked it, causing the mother elephant to protect her baby.
Hansen’s family, which included his wife, mother, two children and father in law had just crossed the border to Zimbabwe to tour the Rainforest before proceeding to do their elephant ride activity, which had always been their dream adventure.
They were met by their guide identified as Mr B, and they finished the tour at 11am before being taken to Elephant and Cheetah Experience venue.
But when they arrived, 30 minutes later, Hansen told VicFallsLive that there was another group arriving at the same time who were apparently late.
“The person in charge had asked us if we would be ok waiting a few minutes while they completed their tour,” Hansen narrated the ordeal leading to the tragic event.
“They said not more than 30 minutes, but it took them almost one hour before they completed their experience and the elephants were brought back to us.
Before the family in front of us got back the next family had arrived and appeared to be a local family and the man with the local family was arguing very loudly with the staff and I could tell that they were upset that they were being delayed.
To calm the storm, Hansen said the staff then asked them if they did not mind doubling up riders on the elephants so they could accommodate both parties on the five elephants they had for riding, although not happy, they agreed.
“My mother and I were riding on the first elephant, my daughter and son were riding on the second elephant and the third elephant with two little kids and the local family’s mom,” Hansen said.
“This elephant was also a mother elephant with an eight month old-baby that was following her around, the fourth elephant being the father-in-law and wife and the fifth the elephant had two more people from the local family. Each elephant had a keeper that was directing the elephants.
Both families were about five minutes into the ride when the incident happened.
“One of the children on their elephants lost her flip flop. The baby elephant picked up the shoe and was running around with it,”Hansen narrated.
” The keepers on the ground were trying to get her to release it and the baby went under the mama elephant causing the mama to turn sharply and all four people were thrown to the ground.
“The keeper of elephant two with my daughter and son jumped off and hid by a tree and watched as the mother of the child pulled their kid out from under the mama elephant and got away.
” My son and Daughter watched as the elephant picked up the keeper’s body and threw it against a tree and continued to stomp and gore the body and when the mama elephant was done, she came over and all ran into the bush and my son and daughter were alone on the back of elephant as it ran through the trees.
“It eventually stopped at a water hole clearing and their legs were scraped on trees and were splashed with mud by the elephant.
” My mom and my elephant immediately ran into the forest for about 20 to 30 minutes before the keeper was able to stop it from running.
” It was very painful for my mother in her hips with the jarring of the running and the keeper was using its hook to try to get the elephant under control.”
Hansen said the elephant finally started to head back and the keeper used his cell phone to call back to the others but could not keep it under control.
” The keeper could not control the elephant and it made its way back to where it found elephant three with daughter and son on it and elephant four with the baby.
” They vocalized and all of them started running again, but their keepers on the ground eventually were able to surround us in the bush and coax the elephants to head back to their caged area.”
For safety, Hansen told VicFallsLive that the elephants had to be caged and some chained
” I was helped off of the elephant and they were able to coax the elephant to kneel and tried to help my mom off. Mom fell from the elephant on top of the keeper into the elephant dung and hit her knee hard,”
“They were able to help her up and walked her out of the cage and they then got elephant three to kneel and my daughter and son ran out of the cage.
” My daughter was able to message our tour operator and they messaged Mr B who had driven to the venue and had his car back to the elephant pen and collected the four of us and took us back to the front gate, probably a kilometer from the front gate.
” None of the staff helped us after we got out of the pen. If Mr B had not arrived, we may have had to figure out a way to walk the distance back to the front gate.”
After, Hansen said there was a medic that checked out his mother for injuries to the knee and took her blood pressure.
” No one from the company came to talk to us, not police or any other authorities came to ask us about what happened, only the transportation company took us back to the border and stayed with us until the Zambian tour representative came to collect us, but this was a very traumatic experience for us especially for my son and daughter having to witness a horrific death.”
“We felt very bad for the family of the keeper who lost their life because of the mishandling of the entire situation”
Efforts to get comments from the company were fruitless as their mobile number was not reachable.
Hansen said such tragic encounters call for authorities to alert visitors to be made fully aware of the risks involved in interacting with wild animals such as the elephants.
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
When l visited South Africa recently with the Zimbabwe Parliament and Wildlife Management Authority delegation, I was taken on a private tour of Boschpoort Predators by Hannes Wessels — President of the South African Predator Association, SUCo-SA member, and one of the industry’s most outspoken defenders. For hours, he walked us through his sanctuary, breeding areas, and off-site hunting properties, offering an unusually frank look into a sector that is often hidden behind controversy and media narratives.
“The youth are our conservationists”
We began in the sanctuary section, where Hannes explained why thousands of schoolchildren visit the property each year.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays school groups visit us free of charge,” he said. “Our school system in South Africa has no conservation value in the syllabus anymore. The youth are our conservationists, and that’s why it’s important to bring their schools in and take them through the jobs.”
The sanctuary is one of three main sections: the public sanctuary, tiger breeding facilities in the valley, and a mountain breeding area that is closed to visitors.
“We don’t want human imprint on animals that are going into the hunting land,” he explained.
Breeding, hunting and the “Buffer” argument
Hannes spoke openly about the role of the predator-breeding industry in South Africa.
“We need to keep this industry open, because it’s a buffer for the wild populations we’ve got,” he said.
“There’s been unnecessary negativity. People see an animal in a cage and think it’s starving today because of what they see in the media.”
He argued that captive-bred lions reduce pressure on wild reserves, especially as some national parks face disease challenges.
“A specimen like that, you won’t find in our national parks anymore — Kruger is compromised due to disease in the lions. Other metapopulations are under pressure.”
He also highlighted the economic contribution:
“This industry contributes five hundred million to GDP from lion hunting alone,” he said. “If you look at the whole value chain — taxidermy, shipping agents — it makes up to a billion.”
Traditional use and sustainability
Standing beside the enclosures, he spoke about cultural practices involving animal parts:
“Animals are part of traditional medicine in our culture, and there’s nothing wrong with it as long as it’s used sustainably. You cannot change the culture of a nation, but you can teach sustainability.”
The challenge of tiger genetics and DNA markers
At the tiger section, he turned to what he called South Africa’s biggest challenge in tiger management:
“South Africa cannot export tigers to the countries of origin because we haven’t got DNA markers,” he said.
“I can say this is a Siberian, but it’s got Bengal blood — nobody can tell me. That’s the problem: there’s no regulation or DNA system to determine pure lines.”
He mentioned that one of his colleagues is working to change that.
“One of my staff members is working on that to see if we can get tiger markers in, so we can actually determine what we’ve got.”
Traceability
Hannes described a new programme they believe will reshape South Africa’s predator sector:
“We’ve got a new traceability programme, written by one of the best, especially for the lion industry,” he said.
“We can trace a lion from cradle to grave — DNA, parentage, everything.”
This, he said, is crucial for international acceptance:
“The US (United State of America) wants traceability on the product. They don’t just want to know it doesn’t threaten the species — they want enhancement findings. It must prove a benefit.”
He argued that once traceability is universal:
“CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) will open up, because then we can prove we are not busy with inbreeding.”
A database to counter inbreeding claims
He said their internal database already captures detailed lineage:
“I’ve got parentage, I’ve got DNA, I’ve got everything. We can prove we’re not breeding irresponsibly.”
But he added that government itself lacks accurate numbers:
“If you ask the department how many one-year-old male lions we have in captivity, they battle to tell us.”
The new programme aims to force uniform reporting across the industry.
Re-wilding and new conservation fund
Hannes revealed a new initiative:
“Every lion that will be hunted in the future will contribute to a conservation fund,” he said.
“That fund is busy with projects like re-wilding.”
He insisted re-wilding can work:
“They say you cannot re-wild a lion — it’s like teaching a house cat to hunt. We re-wilded lions in 2016, and it’s working.”
Breeding success and natural mortality
He explained that captive-breeding success mirrors natural patterns:
“The success rate is usually four cubs, but there’s a 25% loss. Four will be born, you’ll raise three — one is always lost.”
In nature, he said, mortality is even more brutal due to pride takeovers.
“A new male kills all the cubs because he wants his own blood. That’s why it’s almost impossible for a father to mate with his daughter in the wild.”
Some online images showing thin lions mislead the public, he argued:
“Most of those pictures are lions growing old. They’re not sick — they just go old and starve naturally once they’re chased out.”
The 1984 Smith study: “Putting facts ahead”
Hannes cited the work of Dr Smith, who sedated a number lions in Kruger in 1984 to establish physical averages.
“Smith claims a big lion male should be 1.05 metres at the shoulder,” he said, standing beside one of his large males.
“This one is 1.32 — higher than a normal lion male. That’s the genetics we’re working with.”
He emphasised that quality genetics drive higher industry prices.
Industry scrutiny and advocacy
Hannes believes misinformation is one of the industry’s greatest challenges.
“We are confronted with opinions. We’ve got the science, we’ve got the proof. NGOs are sponsoring opinions and we haven’t got the funding to put the facts out.”
He credited sector associations
“If it wasn’t for Peter, Stephen, and especially Richard — attending meetings, fighting for us — we would have lost this industry a long time ago.”
He dismissed political threats to shut predator farming:
“The wish of the government to close the industry is the same as my wish to win the lottery — it will never happen.”
Inside the facility: Slaughterhouse, hospital, and daily Realities
At one point we passed the onsite veterinary building.
“That’s our hospital where we treat all our animals,” he said. “It’s also the slaughterhouse for carcasses — nothing is wasted.”
He explained they had just processed a horse that had died that morning following an attack with a wildebeest.
Gabi and the nocturnal predators
The tour almost ended with Gabi, a six-year-old predator kept in the sanctuary.
“Normally nocturnal,” Hannes said, “but she’s quite big, and she was hand-raised before being released on the property.”
A controversial but transparent vision
My tour with Hannes revealed a man deeply committed to a model that blends conservation, utilisation, and economic sustainability — a model many organisations and countries intensely debate. He insists that with science, genetics, traceability, and strict record-keeping, the predator-breeding industry can both protect wild populations and support livelihoods.
-
Slider3 years agoInnscor launches brewery to produce Nyathi beer
-
National4 years agoIn perched rural Matabeleland North, renewable energy is vital
-
Tourism and Environment4 years agoStrive Masiyiwa’s daughter opens luxury Victoria Falls lodge
-
Opinion4 years agoA street art mural in Zimbabwe exposes a divided society
-
Special reports4 years agoTinashe Mugabe’s DNA show’s popularity soars, causes discomfort for some
-
National4 years agoVictoria Falls’ pilot dies in helicopter crash
-
National3 years agoCommission of inquiry findings fail to be tabled as Victoria Falls councillors fight
-
National3 years agoHwange coal miner fires workers over salary dispute