PH
A Zimbabwean man has landed in the hospital over injuries he sustained after fighting off a leopard which attacked him while he was relieving himself in the bush.
Local publications reported that the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon. 25-year-old James Chauke who is admitted to Gwanda Provincial Hospital, told H-Metro that he thought he was going to die after the big cat ambushed him.
He said;
“It was around lunch time yesterday (Tuesday) when I was working at a plot close to a dense forest.
“I went to relieve myself. I saw some impalas and other animals and didn’t realise that they were being hunted by a leopard. I was among the animals and never thought there was a dangerous animal.
“I heard growls, but I just thought they were baboons eating something. Ndakati kogudo ririkungoramba richibhonga igudo rudzii. And when I turned to look back, I saw that it was a leopard.
“It was already too late as it was charging at me. When it jumped at me, I grabbed its front leg. I managed to pick up a stone and bashed its mouth.
“It was a moment of life and death for me, and I just kept hitting its mouth with a stone.”
James said it must have been a female leopard with cubs because he heard cries of cubs. He doesn’t remember how he got help or who took him to hospital.
