Cape Buffalo Kills Hunter on Safari

While the cape buffalo might not seem as threatening a creature as some of the other large mammals found in Africa — including lions, hippos and rhinos — don’t let that fool you. Male cape buffalo can weigh up to a ton, with bodies stretching well over 10 feet in length. (The females of the species are smaller, but still significantly larger than humans.) In other words, they’re provoke not creatures you’d want to provoke.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened to one Texas-based game hunter last week, who was killed by an angry cape buffalo in the middle of a hunt. CV Safaris, the company that was leading the hunt on which Asher Watkins died, posted a statement on its website detailing the events and their response.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we confirm the tragic death of our client and friend Asher Watkins from the United States,” the head of the company, Hans Vermaak, wrote. “On Sunday 3rd August, while on a hunting safari with us in South Africa’s Limpopo Province, Asher was fatally injured in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo he was tracking together with one of our professional hunters and one of our trackers.”

Vermaak added that the company “will continue to support the family in the days and weeks ahead and we are cooperating fully with all the relevant authorities to ensure all procedures are followed.”

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As NPR’s Alana Wise reports, PETA struck a less mournful tone in responding to Watkins’s death, writing that “[t]he terrified buffalo was cornered and retaliated.” While not to downplay the very real grief Watkins’s family and friends are feeling now, it is a little dissonant to see the safari company refer to the cape buffalo’s “unprovoked attack” given that the buffalo was the intended quarry of a group of hunters.

CV Safaris’ own website refers to cape buffalos as “the most dangerous animal to pursue in Africa, let alone the world.” That sense of danger might appeal to experienced hunters — but, as this incident shows, it can also take a deadly turn.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…