In memoriam - Protege Professional Hunter Mageka Ntuli Killed by Leopard

[Buff-Buster]

According to Pierre van der Walt:
Last Wednesday, protege PH Mageka Ntuli (30) of Engonyameni Hunting Safaris in SA was out hunting Impala for camp supplies and was attacked without warning and killed by a mature male leopard. The reason for the attack remains a mystery as the leopard was healthy and in excellent condition. Danie van Graan, owner of Engonyameni Hunting Safaris went after the leopard and was also charged when he came upon him. Danie killed the leopard with his 45-70. Danie raised Mageka as a son and coached Mageka into one day taking over operations of the company upon Danie's retirement.

Deepest condolences to Danie and Karin and to Mageka's family

 

[sestoppelman]

Really sorry to hear of this. Condolences to the family and friends of this man.

 

[Velo Dog]

That is terrible news.
Although I never met the man, nonetheless I send my condolences to family and friends.
It sounds like Mr. Ntuli was a good man.
It seems like the only thing that is predictable about wild animals is that they are unpredictable.
When a good person dies young it is always a tragedy.

 

[Royal27]

Prayers.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

My sincere condolences to Mageka's family and the people close to him.

 

[ScottG]

Very sorry to hear this sad news. My prayers are with the family and friends.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Sad story. It is all over the news.

"KAAPMUIDEN – “I am too traumatised to speak about my ‘son’s’ death.” These were the words of well-known Onderberg farmer Mr Danie van Graan (60) after the brutal death of Mr Mageka Ntuli (30) whom he had raised as his own and who was killed by a leopard on Tuesday.

Van Graan barely escaped the same animal’s claws when he went looking for the predator after the event. Ntuli was a professional hunter and Van Graan’s right-hand man. He died from his injuries on Wednesday morning.

Van Graan told Lowvelder that he was extremely traumatised by the events. “I have two daughters and I never had a son. I raised him as my own and trained him as a professional hunter.” Van Graan is the father of well-known model and actress Tanya van Graan.

Ntuli had lived on Van Graan’s farm since he was six years old. He started out working in the garden, before Van Graan trained him to hunt.

“I wanted him to take over Engonyameni Hunting Safaris from me. We walked this road together and I was so proud of him.”

Ntuli had apparently gone looking for an impala to shoot for the pot when he encountered the leopard. It remains unclear who found him or to which hospital he had been taken.

Van Graan allegedly alerted authorities and went searching for the animal. When he found it, he was also attacked, but miraculously escaped serious injury and managed to kill it. He would only confirm that it was indeed exceptionally large."


My sincere condolences to Mageka's family and the Van Graan's.

 

[bassasdaindia]

RIP

 

[Nyati]

Sad news, RIP.

 

[gizmo]

Man thats horrible, my prayers will go to his family.

 

[DOC-404]

Deepest condolences to Danie and Karin and to Mageka's family

From me as well. This, so sadly, highlights the extreme danger of working alone in big cat territory.

 

[bluey]

truely sad event , condolonces to friends and family of this young man ,

 

[spoonieduck]

According to Pierre van der Walt:
Last Wednesday, protege PH Mageka Ntuli (30) of Engonyameni Hunting Safaris in SA was out hunting Impala for camp supplies and was attacked without warning and killed by a mature male leopard. The reason for the attack remains a mystery as the leopard was healthy and in excellent condition. Danie van Graan, owner of Engonyameni Hunting Safaris went after the leopard and was also charged when he came upon him. Danie killed the leopard with his 45-70. Danie raised Mageka as a son and coached Mageka into one day taking over operations of the company upon Danie's retirement.

Deepest condolences to Danie and Karin and to Mageka's family

A terrible tragedy and my condolences go out to Mr. Ntuli's family and to Mr. van Graan.

Do we have more details? Was the animal tested for rabies? Was there a nearby leopard kill or did Mr. Ntuli shoot an impala the leopard was stalking? Leopard's can be fearful things but generally only if wounded or cornered. There are numerous exceptions, though. A few years ago a tourist guide in Kruger Park was killed during a completely unprovoked attack by a leopard. Jim Corbett's "Maneaters of Kumaon" documents Corbett's hunting down of the Leopard of Rudraprayag, an animal that officially killed 250 human beings. No doubt there were other deaths that went unrecorded in official reports. Corbett eventually took the beast and described it as an old, somewhat 'poor' animal, with a faded coat.

I lost a friend some years ago who had put out a trap to catch a goat-killing leopard. The trap wasn't anchored [a leopard is powerful enough to pull out of an anchored trap] but was attached to a heavy drag. My friend evidently checked the trap's location and found it missing. Probably he was following the spoor with his eyes on the ground. My guess is that the leopard was laying up in nearby rocky cover and struck before my friend could react. Of course, in this case, the leopard would have felt cornered. Significantly, the leopard was still crouched on my friend 2 hours later when a neighbor arrived and shot the leopard. I don't know, of course, if Mr. van Graan encountered the leopard close to the scene of the original attack.