It is understood that the unnamed victim was a young university student from
the United States who had been observing the animals at the reserve for
several weeks.
Jeffrey Wicks, a spokesman for private ambulance firm Netcare911, said
witnesses said that he had been leading a tour group around the park and was
standing close to a fence when he was attacked.
“A ranger at a chimpanzee sanctuary near Nelspruit is fighting for his
life after he was attacked by two frenzied animals while leading a tour
group at the park this afternoon,” he said.
“According to eyewitnesses, two chimpanzees grabbed the man by his feet
and pulled him under the perimeter fence and into the enclosure.”
He said that the man was dragged nearly a kilometre into one of the
enclosures, and paramedics required armed escorts to rescue him.
“He was rapidly stabilised at the scene and transported by ambulance to a
private medical facility in Nelspruit,” he said.
David Oosthuizen, Jane Goodall Institute executive director, confirmed the
reserve was on lock down following the incident and they were looking at
prompted it.
“We understand that the gentleman is stable and we really feel for him,”
he said. “This has been very upsetting for everyone – it is just
horrific. We are an organisation that’s respected worldwide for the work we
do so anything like this is very bad.”
He said because of the abuse suffered by the animals before they were rescued,
everyone at the reserve was cautious around them.
“These chimpanzees have six times the strength of a human being so you
have to respect them and we certainly do,” he said.
The Chimp Eden sanctuary featured in the 2008 Animal Planet documentary series
Escape to Chimp Eden.
It is one of three sanctuaries around the world established by the Jane
Goodall Institute.
Dame Jane, 78, is considered one of the world’s leading experts on
chimpanzees, having travelled to Tanzania in 1960 and spent 45 years
studying the mammals.
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