Man Rescues DeBeers CEO from Lion’s Jaws

The man who rescued DeBeers Botswana CEO, Neo Moroka, from a lion’s attack at his farm in Kgalagadi has told Mmegi the attack was ferocious.

Hendrick Eister who says he learnt about lions and how to kill them while working in Transvaal many years ago, says the lion left five deep cuts on his back and another deep cut on his left arm before he eventually shot and killed it on Monday this week.

The attack was severe, no doubt about that. We later decided to drive him to Tsabong after I had ordered that we treat the lion wounds with brake fluid, before taking him to the hospital.

“I went to check on him this morning, he was recovering. But the problem is that he is alone there, but he was walking albeit with difficulty,” said the lion killer.

Eister says he had to be brave during the attack as all the lion hunters ran for their dear lives, while one of the hunters who had a gun just froze with the weapon in his hands while the lion was on top of Moroka just a foot away.

“I saw it jumping out of the bush, towards the approaching van, and I shouted, shoot, shoot, but no one pulled the trigger; I did not have a gun; so I had to be brave and run towards Bok, who was literally stunned, and grabbed the gun from him. Everything happened in a split second. I shot at the hip, and then on the shoulders, and then it started looking for the shooter. It was really bad. I had ran out of bullets and had to call for an extra one, as it came charging at me. Bok threw the bullet to me; it fell on the ground and I had to start looking for it very quickly; luckily by the time it was very close to me, I had loaded the gun and I pulled the trigger, hitting it on the head. It died on the spot. It was hell,” narrated the shooter.

Eister says though heavily injured by the lion’s claws, Moroka showed remarkable strength as he picked himself up and jumped onto the bakkie on his own.

Eister says they were hunting for a lion that had earlier killed a cow at Moroka’s kraal. In fact, it was the second cow to be killed by the lions at the farm since the festive period began.

The lion killer says they have been informed by the wildlife department in the area that four lions entered the farm just before Christmas. The wildlife department has since killed one, while the second lion was shot and killed on Monday by Eister.

But Eister is concerned that two more lions are still at large will continue to kill livestock and pose a threat to people’s lives.

bigcatrescue.org