Hendrick Eister Rescues DeBeers Botswana CEO from Lion’s Jaws [Not Shown]

As you can see from the video above, killing a lion is not so easy, Mr. Bond. As former minister and current DeBeers CEO Neo Moroka recently learned whilst hunting a big cat down on the farm. mmegi.bw is not exactly clear exactly what happened; the report is based entirely on an account provided by one [mauled] eye-witness. What we do know is this: Moroka had a close encounter with simba that left him moments from an extremely grisly end. The hero of this piece: a man named Hendrick Eister . . .

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.

To quote the Bonzo Dog Band (singing about another species of wild cat in a different location), dear dear dear oh dear dear dear oh dear dear oh dear no. Let’s back that up a bit shall we? Here’s how it went down . . .

“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.

Oh, there’s also this:

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks say they wont compensate lion attack victim, Former cabinet Minister, Neo Moroka for his injuries. But the wildlife official also says the De Beers boss and his team will not be charged with illegal hunting even though they were not accompanied by wildlife officers on the fateful day.

Botswana has banned the hunting of lions since 2007 due to declining numbers. Lion hunting was also banned in 2002, but the wildlife official speaking in relation to the attack on Moroka said the lion had to be hunted and killed . . .

[Regional Wildlife officer, South West Region, Goitseone] Lebonetse said anyone who has their livestock attacked by wild animals like lions is empowered under the law to kill such animals. Lebonetse said despite what happened when the lion attacked, he maintains that the Moroka team were very capable and did not need wildlife officers to accompany them in the hunt.