safari lion attack

Video shows Mike Hodge being dragged away by lion at the Makarele Predator Centre in Thabazimbi, South Africa

SOCIAL media is divided after footage shows a safari park owner being mauled by a lion. The man survived but the lion was put down. WARNING: Disturbing video

THIS is the British safari park owner who was savaged by a huge male lion after entering its enclosure in front of horrified onlookers.

The Sun reports the distressing footage shows Mike Hodge being attacked by the big cat yesterday at the Makarele Predator Centre in Thabazimbi, South Africa.

* pic.twitter.com/Bax05SpnMQ — Pāʻani (@unclemissouri) April 30, 2018

The British man, who relocated from the UK with his wife Chrissy in 2003, is currently in hospital and is said to have sustained neck and jaw injuries.

Speaking with The Sun , a friend of Mr Hodge’s, who does not wish to be named, said he was rushed to the Mediclinic Hospital 5km away.

His friend revealed that the park owner was investigating a smell in the lion’s enclosure when the predator attacked him.

“Mike and one of his rangers were a little concerned about a smell in a compound that was upsetting one of the lions and had gone in through the gate to see what was causing it,” he said.

“It had put the lion on edge but when Mike went in the lion turned and came for him and he ran but couldn’t get through the gate quick enough and it had him.

“There is no information coming out of the hospital but all I know is that he is alive and his wife and daughter are with him.

“I do not know how badly hurt he is but he is a lovely guy and I wish him all the best.

“He is no fool around lions and knows how to interact with them but clearly something went wrong” she said.

South African police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe told News24 that Mr Hodge sustained injuries to his neck and jaw but was recuperating.

In the footage, the lion spots Mr Hodge after he enters its enclosure and chases him towards the metal door of the facility.

In astonishing scenes, the elderly park owner is dragged like a rag doll towards some bushes.

Onlookers scream for help while the animal paws Mr Hodge, who does not appear to be moving.

The lion then drags him further into the bushes but then gunshots ring out and the lion is scared away.

But the predator remains near the victim while more shots are fired into the air.

One girl who is watching the attack is heard crying in horror as another man shouts for someone to “get a rifle.”

The animal has reportedly been killed following the attack.

Mr and Mrs Hodge are believed to have started a lion project in Thabazimbi, northern South Africa, which became the Marakele Animal Sanctuary in 2009.

And due to the park’s popularity, the couple created the predator centre within the sanctuary featuring at least a dozen big cats, including white lions, cheetahs and two Bengal tigers.

Marakele remains closed following the attack while Mrs Hodge was said to be too upset to comment on the incident.

Social media users however felt that the lion should not have been put down and questioned why Mr Hodge would be inside the lion’s enclosure when it was that close to him.

It’s a wild animal. Why was he inside there. — Archford Matienga (@archizzlee) May 1, 2018

What was he thinking walking into that cage. I mean really. These animals are not toys 🙈 — Ryan Kankowski (@Kankowski) May 1, 2018

Hey I got an idea, maybe let's not keep wild animals in cages! — Zane (@ZaneMorgan_) May 1, 2018

He shouldn’t have been in there, but he still did not deserve that. People that’s saying that he did is evil af. He made a mistake of getting too comfortable but he DID NOT deserve that. — Hotsauce (@Marchelle_Hoee) May 1, 2018

pic.twitter.com/5oZb851sBr — Earl-San ㊙️ (@GoldBloodedSFG) May 1, 2018

This article originally appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission

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Horrifying moment lioness reared up and mauled Game of Thrones editor to death through her car window in South African safari park

• Photograph shows lioness rearing up moments before it killed 29-year-old American tourist Katherine Chappell
• Standing on its hind legs, the animal is seen peering into vehicle seconds before it lunged through open window
• Miss Chappell, who worked as an editor on hit TV programme Game Of Thrones, was in South Africa volunteering   
• Engineer Ben Govender, who took the photograph, described how lion retreated, blood dripping from its mouth

By Stephanie Linning and Alison Smith-squire For Mailonline

Published: 09:00 EDT, 6 June 2015 | Updated: 17:10 EDT, 6 June 2015

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This is the horrifying moment a lioness reared up and mauled to death an American tourist after she stopped to take a photograph in a South African safari park. 

Standing on its hind legs, the lioness is seen peering into the vehicle seconds before it attacked Katherine Chappell, an editor on hit TV show Game of Thrones, through the open window.

Engineer Ben Govender, 38, who was in the car behind Miss Chappell, said 'no one could have imagined' what would happen in the minutes after he took the extraordinary photograph.

He described the 'terrifying' scene as he watched the animal take its first bite out of the passenger on the back seat before retreating from the vehicle, blood dripping from its mouth and paw. 

Scroll down for videos 

Horrifying: This image captures the horrifying the moment the lioness reared up before attacking American tourist Katherine Chappell

Mauled: Miss Chappell, 29, an editor on hit TV show Game of Thrones, was taking a break from volunteering when she was killed

Miss Chappell, 29, was killed in the safari park north of Johannesburg on Monday while taking a break from a two-week volunteering project on another nature preserve.

Mr Govender said that at first the male and female lions did not seem interested - and that the lioness stood up 'without warning'.

He said: 'It was terrifying. After the first bite the lioness retreated from the car with blood dripping from her mouth and paw.

'We all thought she was done and didn’t like what she’d just bitten. But then like someone in a temper that wasn’t satisfied in a fight, she leaped back into the car and mauled the passenger.

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'The rangers came running in and the two lions ran off but the lioness had half the passenger’s shoulder in her mouth. And it was too late to do anything to save her.'

Mr Govender, who lives nearby, was visiting the park with his mother, sister and friends, when he watched the driver of the vehicle in front stop next to two lions and roll down his window. 

The passenger, Miss Chappell, did the same.

He said: 'We decided to show our friends a local spot where they could see real lions in a "wild" setting. The SUV in front of us stopped next to two lions and the driver rolled down his window.

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Wake: Family and friends gathered at a funeral home in Rye, New York yesterday to pay their respects to Miss Chappell

Loved: The 29-year-old has been described as a 'brilliant, kind, adventurous and high-spirited' woman in a statement from her family

Final farewell: Her funeral will be held tomorrow in Rye, the suburb of New York where Miss Chappell grew up. Above, crowds at the wake 

'The passenger did the same, I presume to get a photo. The male lion didn’t seem very interested by this and at that point the lioness didn’t seem bothered either.

'She got up very lazily and stretched out her body. Then suddenly without warning she stood up at the window of the SUV.'

He added: 'At first it just looked like an amazing shot of a lion stood up at the window. The lion can only have has its head in that window for around 15 seconds. 

'At that moment the tourist was face to face with one of the most ferocious, incredible and magnificent animals.

'But then the lioness lunged and we saw the driver diving into the passenger seat and punching at the lioness.'

Mr Govender said it appeared to him the driver did not have a chance to drive off or close the window.

'The lioness was just too powerful. After initially retreating she then came back. It was extremely fast – all over in a matter of a couple of minutes. And all we could do was hoot for help,' he said.

By the time the gamesmen had arrived Katherine – known by her friends as “Katie” – was dead.

The lions were swiftly moved to another enclosure while their victim was taken out of the car to resuscitate her. 

Yesterday, friends and relatives of Miss Chappell gathered outside a funeral home in Rye, New York, to pay their respects to the 'brilliant, kind, adventurous and high-spirited' woman.  

The tourist, who lived in Vancouver, Canada, worked as a visual effects editor on shows including Game of Thrones and feature films.

Earlier this week, her family posted a message of mourning to Facebook. They said well-traveled Miss Chappell's 'energy and passion could not be contained by mere continents or oceans.'

Her funeral will be held tomorrow, also in Rye, the suburb of New York City where Miss Chappell grew up.

Her mother, Mary Chappell, told a local newspaper that her daughter went to South Africa to work as a volunteer at a different reserve, one dedicated to saving rhinoceroses and elephants.  She had hoped to make a movie about animal poaching, her mother said.

Close up: The photographer said 'no one could have imagined' what would happen in the moments after he captured this image

Response: A police van arrives at the Lion Park to help investigate Miss Chappell's death. The park has remained open

Success: Miss Chappell pictured with director Danny Boyle, left, and with Thomas Schelesny, who won an Emmy for Game of Thrones

'She lived a life of adventure — she loved traveling, she was full of life,' the mother said. She added that her daughter had visited Japan, Australia and Europe as well as Africa.

Chappell graudated from Hofstra University on Long Island in 2008 with a degree in film studies and production. For the past year she worked with special effects company Scanline VFX.

'Kate was a valued member of our team and we are devastated by the loss,' Scanline VFX said in a statement.

Miss Chappell's death led to the park and staff coming under fire over safety standards after what was the third big cat attack in four months.

But the tour guide who was seriously injured trying to save Miss Chappell has released a statement defending his actions in the attack. 

Pierre Potgieter, 66, claims he sustained injuries to his arm and suffered a heart attack while trying to save her life.

A statement released by his company, Kalabash Tours, by his wife Corlien slammed a member of staff from the park who arrived on the scene but was 'reluctant' to administer first aid. 

Mr Potgieter tried desperately to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to her wound but also says the ambulance only arrived 'some time thereafter', adding that to him, it 'felt like a very long time'.

He also claims that Miss Chappell opened the window 'of her own accord' at the last moment, and that the lioness took her despite his attempts to fend the cat off.  

The park, which remains open, has defended itself, saying that visitors are instructed to keep windows closed at all times, and that the ambulance arrived soon after the attack. 

The park said the lion will not be put down.

Share or comment on this article: Moment lion killed Game of Thrones’ Katherine Chappell pictured

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Chilling photo captures woman’s final moments before fatal lion attack.

Horrific new details have emerged of how a fearless safari guide risked his own life by repeatedly punching a raging lioness in the face as the animal fatally mauled tragic New Yorker Katherine Chappell .

Eyewitness Ben Govender described the heroic battle in an interview Saturday — the same day relatives and friends held a memorial service in Rye for the beautiful and “fearless’’ 29-year-old adventurer.

The lion attack took place Monday, after Chappell rolled down the window of her SUV to snap a better shot of the animal, which was lying on the ground.

Without warning, the lion stood up on its rear paws, balancing on the vehicle. Then it suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Chappell through the window.

“We saw the [guide] diving into the passenger seat and punching at the lioness,” recalled Govender, 38, an engineer and photographer.

The guide, Pierre Potgieter, 66, suffered a heart attack and is hospitalized after what he called “the worst experience’’ of his life.

Govender continued, “After the first bite, the lioness retreated from the car with blood dripping from her mouth and paw.’’

But the horror was far from over.

The animal staged a second, even more devastating attack.

“Her face was torn apart. The right side of her chest was gone,” Govender said of Chappell. “Nothing could have been done to save that woman.’’

The lioness, Govander said, “had half . . . her shoulder in its mouth.’’

Chappell, a Hofstra grad who worked as a visual-effects artist on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and big-budget flicks including “Captain America” and “Godzilla,” was in South Africa volunteering at a different wildlife preserve, relatives said Saturday during the service at the Graham Funeral Home.

Her boyfriend, Greyson Hoare, tearfully told the gathering of about 100 mourners that he had warned Chappell before she left to remember “she’s just a city girl, she has to be careful out there.”

Chappell’s sister, Jennifer Ringwald, delivered a eulogy, calling her “fearless.”

“Katie had an unbridled passion for everything under the sun,” Ringwald said. “Nobody who met her could ever forget her.”

“Her flaw was that she was a 5-foot-4, 90-pound woman, but deep down she believed she was a 6-foot-4, 250-pound man,” she said.

Horrifying moment Brit wildlife park owner is savaged and dragged into enclosure by lion

WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT Onlookers were left petrified by a huge lion when the savage creature dragged British Mike Hodge into its territory and hurtled towards him leaving him with severe injuries

• 22:17, 4 May 2022

This is the horrifying moment a British safari park owner is savaged and dragged away by a lion into its enclosure.

The distressing footage of British man Mike Hodge being attacked by the lion has remerged online after the incident at Makarele Predator Centre in South Africa in 2018.

Horrified onlookers were left screaming in terror as Mr Hodge was savagely thrown around and dragged around like a rag doll by the ferocious lion.

Mike had entered the cage while another park keeper had come forward with a small bucket in his hand and looked to be coaxing the lion towards the edge.

However, the lion then spots the man in its territory and launches towards him leaving him terrified about what's to happen next.

In the footage, Mr Hodge is seeing running towards a door of the enclosure.

But the huge male lion pounces and knocks him to the ground.

Mike is on the floor, not moving, and onlookers cry for help.

In the scary footage, gun shots can be seen being fired into the air to distract the lion.

However, a ranger was forced to shoot dead the lion after he refused to move away from the 72-year-old following warning shots.

Amazingly, Mike survived the traumatic attack after being airlifted by air ambulance for life saving surgery.

In the hospital photo it showed Mike smiling in his hospital bed with a bandage on his neck and a breathing tube after the terrifying ordeal.

His injuries were a severe bite and claw wounds to his neck and back and a broken jaw in the 2018 attack.

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Safari guests stunned as lions savagely repel interloper, share this article.

Safari guests observing lions at an elephant carcass over the weekend were “stunned” to witness the pride turning ferociously against an interloper.

The accompanying footage , captured in South Africa’s Thornybush Nature Reserve, shows the lions appearing content alongside the carcass after their feast.

But one lion, front and center at the carcass, was from a rival pride and that spelled trouble.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Almero Klingenberg (@almero.klingenberg)

“The young Avoca Male casually walked into the Monwana Pride and fed with them on an elephant carcass (as if he was part of the pride),” photographer Almero Klingenberg , who captured the footage, explained via Instagram. “A few minutes later, Mapoza showed up and together with his sons, they chased the intruder away.”

That’s understating matters based on the graphic footage.

Cameron Scott, owner of Royal Ngala Safaris, shared the footage and stated that guests were “stunned” by the “chaos” that unfolded.

Scott continued: “The young Avoca male Lion joins the Monwana pride on an Elephant carcass and is immediately disciplined and chased off by my favorite blue-eyed Mapoza and his boys!

“He’s lucky to escape alive.”

Mapoza is a large dominant male lion who’s blind in his right eye, which is blueish-gray in color. Thornybush Nature Reserve refers to Mapoza as “The Lion With One Eye.”

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Safari park worker mauled by lion relives moment big cat tore through her leg ‘like butter’

Laura fagen suffered 10 flesh wounds on her legs and feet as a result of the attack in south africa, article bookmarked.

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Louise Thomas

A safari park worker mauled by a lion has spoken of the moment the animal tore through her leg “like butter”.

Lauren Fagen, then 18, was cleaning out the cages of two lions at the Moholoholo rehab centre, South Africa in 2013 when they attacked her and one of them bit her leg .

Duma the lion reached through the bars of his cage and dragged Ms Fagen’s legs through an open gap.

Ms Fagen, who is from Quebec, Canada, was saved by fellow volunteer and British vet Natalie Bennett, who tried to fight off the lions with a broom.

In a new book called Bite Club , Ms Fagen told author Dougie Wight: “Duma stuck his entire leg through the bars, nearly the full length of it because of how far I was away.”

“Before I could react he got me with the tip of his nail into the middle of my right calf,” she continued.

“It was like butter, it went right in. I felt a thud - he had pulled me on to my back, I hit the ground and was looking up at the ceiling..

“He sliced open my leg. It looked like what you would see at the butcher, like something from a dead cow that would hang from the ceiling. I thought, That can’t be my leg because that’s not what … wait, it is my leg.

Ms Fagen started to scream for help and kicked with her other leg but the lion immediately pulled it through the bars up to the groin.

Duma’s female mate Tree then joined in the attack, gnawing at Ms Fagen’s feet.

The park worker suffered 10 flesh wounds on her legs and feet as a result of the attack.

She described how her left kneecap “nearly came completely off and was hanging by a piece of skin”.

Looking back at the attack 10 years on, the now 28 year-old said that while she suffered muscle and nerve damage “it could’ve been a lot worse.”

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Why don’t lions attack tourists on safari and more questions from our readers.

A Moon-less Earth, yoga history, climate change and human speech

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Why don’t wild lions attack human tourists in open vehicles?

Douglas Hall, Suwanee, Georgia

It’s all about predator-prey dynamics: A lion wouldn’t think twice about going after an individual human, but a motor vehicle is just so much larger than any animal a lion would usually attack as prey (or perceive as a threat it could handle). This dynamic also helps explain why animals do things or have characteristics to make themselves look larger—to avoid being perceived as easy prey.

Craig Saffoe, Curator of great cats, National Zoo

What would happen to the Earth if the Moon were destroyed?

Rose Mary, Bundscho, Houston

There’s a vibrant literature on the subject on the Internet, but the logic chains are rather long and sometimes hard to follow. In reality, any event violent enough to destroy the Moon would likely destroy the Earth, too. Speaking less literally, the Earth without the Moon would be a planet without tides—and with a less compelling night sky. David DeVorkin Curator of astronomy and space sciences, Air and Space Museum

How long ago did humans develop the ability to speak and form words?

Marsha Cox, Kure Beach, North Carolina

We don’t know about spoken words; they don’t turn into fossils that we can discover and date. But written words date back about 8,000 years, and evidence of artistic expression, such as sculptures and paintings, is much more ancient. For instance, humans began using pigments like ocher and manganese to mark objects, and possibly their own skin, between 320,000 and 260,000 years ago.

Briana Pobiner, Paleoanthropologist, Natural History Museum

We often hear that climate change is raising the sea level. Is it rising globally or in specific locations?

Wayne Gilbert, Westminster, Colorado

The sea level is rising worldwide, but not uniformly, due to differences in ocean circulation, winds, the shape of local bodies of water, seafloor characteristics and even the gravitational pull of polar ice sheets. The elevation of land may also change over time in an equally variable fashion. Combined, the two factors create a great deal of local variation in the rise of sea elevation compared with land elevation, which we call relative sea level rise.

Patrick Megonigal, Climate change ecologist, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Who invented yoga?

Debbie Peck, Germantown, Wisconsin

No specific individual or spiritual tradition. Yoga emerged in northern India about 2,500 years ago, as men and women of various faiths began to renounce social bonds and turn to meditation as a means of rising above the pain of existence. By the seventh century A.D., the core concepts, practices and vocabulary of almost every yoga system were established, though variations and expansions continue.

Debra Diamond, Curator, “Yoga: The Art of Transformation,” Sackler Gallery

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