Cape Town: A couple from the city encountered a leopard and was attacked by it at the remote Bosobogolo Camp in the Mabuasehube Game Reserve in Kgalagadi.
The couple Gavin and Jill Allderman experienced a thrill they can’t forget. For the couple, it was really challenging to tackle the wild being and fight against the leopard.
The Allderman couple has shared their experience on the official facebook page of Kgalagadi Sightings Group. In the official group where travellers can share their stories or anecdotes like Gavin and Jill many take the chance to express themselves.
While narrating their tale the couple gave the title “We fight off a leopard from our RTT with our bare fists.”
It all started when the Cape Town couple was camping at Bosobogolo Camp no.-2 at the beginning of the month of March this year in 2024. Explained by them “The summer had started wet and promising for this arid landscape but the rains had abated, the stark veld suffering the consequences of the harsh onslaught of 40° plus temperatures and searing winds.”
According to them, they were blessed that the temperature on the second day had abated, so it was comparatively mild, topping in the mid-30s, with a protective cloud and a day for relaxing and reading.
As per their narration, a glorious, spectacular sunset consisting of another beautiful evening, the barking geckos, jackals and other night sounds wafted on the air. After a little Braai the couple packed up the camp and secured all the equipment as they heard lions in the distance the previous night.
Gavin took on from here and said, Jill showered and entered the rooftop tent. “I was just finishing by getting shower, when I suddenly noticed an animal in the murky edges of the circle of light. I shouted “Jill, a leopard”, but in the low light, I had doubts and thought that it perhaps be a cheetah.”
“I hurriedly secured our motion sensor lights around the Hilux and clambered up into the tent. We zipped up the gauze insect protective coverings and feeling secure by laying in bed and reading,” narrated Gavin.
He added, “We were aware of the animal circling the vehicle by virtue of the motion sensor lights being triggered and at one point we were aware that the ‘Cheetah’ had crawled under the bakkie, only its tail was visible.”
Adding up to the story further they said, “In the glimpses we caught, we could see the animal was completely emaciated and gaunt. I started feeling uneasy – this was unusual activity and thought ‘thank goodness we are in a rooftop tent.” “Eventually we dozed off into slumberland. It must’ve been around 10:00 p.m.” explained the couple.
From here on the story becomes more gripping as around 1:30 a.m. Gavin wakes up after hearing a sound movement on the ladder. “Sitting bolt upright and instantly wide awake, I peered down the ladder and saw the animal climbing up. I shouted, ‘he’s coming!’ Screaming and swearing was no deterrent as the leopard scrambled up and launched himself onto the gauze of the tent, his claws gripped onto the thin fabric with his head inches from my face.”
“I started punching at it furiously straight in the face with all my might. I realized we were now bare fisted and were fighting for our lives. Both of us were shouting and screaming, Jill behind me, hit with a pillow at its paws and then with her book. Every now and again the animal pulled its head back in a terrifying gesture as if to attack and bite through the gauze,” told Gavin.
At these moments, I concentrated on punching his claws. I became aware that there was blood spattered in copious amount but we just carried on punching and shouting. Well, the adrenaline coursed through my body in this fight for life.
It was terrifying that during the whole attack, there wasn’t a sound from the animal; it was jagged breathing as it concentrated on the assault. There was no flight option available at this point. I must have punched at least 30 times using all my energy.
Eventually, the animal fell back, and the couple realised that they had a temporary ‘stay of execution!’ My hand was bleeding profusely. Jill took off a pillow slip which we hurriedly wrapped around it to stem the blood flow.
The story goes on and shares that the panting and shaking from this terrifying experience has lasted at least a minute, which we have considered as an option. “We had to get into the vehicle, but we didn’t know how?”
The couple narrated, “While we pondered we heard what sounded like the animal jumping on the bonnet! It was like a horror movie! We were fighting for our lives the night through!”
“When the animal appeared again at the foot of the ladder we sprayed water from a spray bottle we had with us, this was not much of a deterrent but was a mild distraction.”
In continuation, “Jill came up with the suggestion of pulling the ladder in. As I opened the gauze to do this, the animal reappeared attacking the bottom of the ladder as I swung it at him.”
“Eventually we got the ladder in with the tent zipped up but we definitely had to get into the vehicle, only how? I could have either dash down the ladder and confront the beast using the ladder as a weapon or have stealthily creep down the ladder on the opposite side of the bakkie as the animal was now in the A frame hungrily plotting his next move,” said the Allderman couple.
Latter was a less grizzly option as long as the front left door was not locked of a lousy Toyota anomaly.
Gavin added, “Before I over considered this scary option, I opened the tent on the opposite side, slipped down the ladder, my heart pounding in my chest and into the vehicle which thank god was open.”
Jill then hauled the ladder in, shouting to ask if I was ok, but I couldn’t hear her, She was relieved when she saw the headlights illuminating as I slid into the driver’s seat.
Shaking with shock, adrenaline and with the exertions of pounding at the beast’s face with all my might for a lengthy period, I has a thought that at least now we have a chance to run away as I started the Toyota.
“I yelled to Jill to find out if She was Ok, I reversed, blood dripping everywhere. I drove the vehicle towards it in an attempt to chase it, then drove slowly to camp mo.-2 which was about 3 kms away. All the while yelling to Jill if she was ok and telling her to shine backward down the road to make sure the animal wasn’t following us.”
Gavin then continued and added, “At the other campsite I nervously alighted and got Jill down from the RTT.”
“The pillow slip was by now soaked in blood. We pulled it open expecting to see a shredded hand but surprisingly all that blood came from a single, pretty deep scratch at the base of my ring finger,” narrated Gavin.
During the ongoing situation, Jill as a Nurse, acted and applied her skills, she washed my hand with Dettol solution, dried it and put on bandages and antiseptics. The things were at last looking up.
By this time the couple was nervous and keeping their eyes open as they suspected that the leopard may be coming after its injured prey.
Allderman couple of Cape Town recalled, “We slowly drove back towards our camp. In the headlights, unmistakably a gaunt, there was a highly compromised leopard. My skin crawled as realization set in that we just with out fists driven off the killer animal!”
The couple took some pictures from the iPhone before the leopard ducked away and disappeared into the dark bush.
“At the camp, sitting in the Hilux talking about the incident, we realized, how lucky we had been,” said couple. “We were suffering from post-traumatic stress, so we quickly jumped out and retrieved a bottle of whisky which we sipped neat to calm ourselves.”
The couple realised, “What a night! We were lucky to be alive.” Following the other morning, the couple packed their camp and drove to Mabua gate to report the incident.
At the gate, they met a French couple, and both were vets, who very kindly redressed their wounds and gave advice regarding rabies and tetanus shots.
After consulting the doctors, the couple got to know that they needed an anti-tetanus shot. For which they washed the bloodied sheets at the game scout camp and then set off to Lesholoago Camp hoping it would be unoccupied and fortunately it was.
The couple mentioned that at the evening DWNP game scouts arrived to check on them. The next day, the couple drove around the Pans with a hope to find a doctor amongst the campers.
Amazingly, there was a group at Mphaya who had an anti-tetanus shot. “We reported the incident to the SANPARKS when we arrived at Nossob few days later,” mentioned the Cape Town couple.
The couple sighed as this was an unexpected, terrifying and horrific experience which took time to assimilate. However, one must accept that visiting the wild is a highly risky activity.
Gavin added, “I have been going to Mabua for 43 years, almost every year and sometimes two or three times a year, so regard myself as reasonably experienced.”
“I have always carried an axe and a diver’s knife into the tent with me but the recent acquisition of the rooftop tent has made me feel safer. If we had straight away recognised the animal as a leopard, I would have been more alert and cautious,” added Gavin.
The couple concluded the story by narrating, “A compromised animal is a far more dangerous risk as we all know. I am glad we stayed on for five extra nights, it helped come to terms with the incident.”