SANParks.org Forums

Love the discussion
but its still a rule

Hmmmmm- I wonder if this guy would agree with you


Newspaper report last year

Lion Park 'attack' - man's window open
2011-11-19 12:30

Ügen Vos, Beeld
Johannesburg - The man who shoved his arm into a lioness's mouth at the Lion Park near Johannesburg to keep her out of his car, admitted on Friday that his window had been open, despite warnings.

Ranesh Rajkaran, 28, only suffered scratch marks.

He and his wife, Somashnie, who is pregnant, had been celebrating their second wedding anniversary at the park.

Rajkaran said he had opened the windows a little while they were driving in Friday's sweltering heat, little expecting that a lioness would suddenly shove her paw through the gap and dig her claws into the seat.

“I think she must have smelled the food in the car or maybe she just wanted to play,” said Rajkaran.

When he tried to push her paw out, the lioness simply forced the window open, which was when his wife, who is five months pregnant, “got very panicky”.

Rajkaran tried unsuccessfully to push the lioness back with both arms. When she shoved her head in, he shoved his right arm into her mouth.

Meanwhile, he could see two other lionesses and a male walking toward his car, curious to see what was happening.

Rajkaran finally forced the lioness out of the car. After he had his scratches seen to at hospital he returned to the park to have tea with the staff.

He said he will definitely return to visit the park again.

“It was a scary but also wonderful experience. The people at the park were wonderful ... it was definitely something you only experience once in a lifetime.”

Lion Park spokesperson Earl Smith said signs clearly state that all windows have to be fully closed.


- Beeld

And another one -- Interesting




Game ranger saved from lion's jaw
2011-11-02 10:36


André Botha, Volksblad
Upington - A game ranger’s life was heroically saved on Tuesday when an aggressive lion attacked him on the back of a bakkie in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Albert Bojone was literally pulled from the lion’s jaws when Graeme Ellis, a biotechnician and researcher in the park, jumped out of the bakkie’s cabin and dragged him inside.

Bojone’s boot, which was grabbed by the lion, remained between the lion’s teeth when Ellis pulled him free. The lion was shot dead with the boot in his jaws.

The lion had first bitten his arm and when he let go, Bojone jumped onto the bakkie cabin’s roof with the lion jumping up after him.

Other lions shot

The lion attack came after four lions were shot dead over the weekend for killing cattle.

Henriëtte Engelbrecht, marketing and communication manager of the South African National Parks (SANParks) arid parks in the Northern Cape, said Bojone, Ellis and Mico Ferreira, senior game ranger, were looking for the three remaining lions in the pride on the Botswana side of the park close to the border with South Africa.

Bojone sat on the back of the bakkie and the other two were in the cabin. They followed the two lions and then drove behind the one on the right.

The next moment the other lion rushed at the bakkie and jumped on the back.

“The bakkie fortunately had railings, which held the lion back. He got hold of Bojone’s arm. When he let go for a moment, Bojone jumped on the cabin roof.”

The lion jumped onto the back and grabbed Bojone’s foot. Ellis then got out of the cabin and pulled Bojone in.

Both his boots were left behind, one between the lion’s teeth. This boot had four holes where the lion had bitten it.

Bojone was rushed to the Mediclinic in Upington where he was still in the ICU on Tuesday.

Engelbrecht said the lions, known among rangers as “bush lions” usually frequented areas where there were no people.

No previous lion attacks

The lion that attacked Bojone was possibly furious about his mate that had been shot dead.

When the lions moved out of their area, game rangers were sent to catch them. They were then brought back to Kgalagadi, where they were kept for 14 days in a boma. They were then released about 200km from where they were found.

She said Nardus du Plessis, the park’s former senior game ranger, on Tuesday confirmed to her that no lion had attacked a human being in the 15 years that he had been in the park.

Bojone had been working in the park for 22 years.

He also said something like this had never happened while he was working at the park.

Engelbrecht said lions had rushed at vehicles before. A blanket was then usually thrown over them when they got close to the vehicle. They then fought the blanket and usually gave up.

On Tuesday, however, the lion simply pushed through the blanket to get to Bojone.

“He must have been furious.”


- Volksblad

Regardless of whether safari operators have roofs at other places or not, it is irrelevant to this discussion here. The other places do not have a visitor count of over a million per annum, nor do they have the infrastructure and almost 2million hectares of land.

And yes you do notnhsve a roof when walking, but you have the reassurance of either a guide with a .357/.458 with a backup. Or you are the guide carrying the weapon, giving you something extra to hide behind...


The fact here stands : it is against the rules to this drive a car, regardless of it's make, without a roof. Plain and simple...
Don't like it?? Stay out ofthe park....

..........or if you play Tarzan and think you can swing away into a tree .........

Good for you Gerhard!!! I couldn't agree more!!

Recently when we stayed at Tamboti, we were shocked to be overtaken by what looked like a contractor's vehicle, carrying noisy passengers on the back of a canopy-less Mahindra bakkie.

This was on H7 towards the Orpen gate.
We were shocked to even take a picture.

I do not doubt what you say Johan.

But misbehavior is already a massive problem in Kruger. Having us tourists rock up in topless cars can only allow for more dangerous misbehavior.

If someone cannot handle the confinement of a car, they should book walking trails.

We can debate this as much as we like guys, but if Kruger says we can't..................unless they change the rules, we can't!!!

If we don't like Kruger's rules, we don't have to visit do we?

Rules are rules , and we have to stick to them . There are always people who go from the point of view that " rules are made to be broken " , and they will then go out of their ways just to prove that the whole world is wrong .
This is the same as saying that it is safe to go on an aircraft , and to ignore the rules by not fastening your seatbelt during take-off and landing . But in the case of air travel , the aircraft staff make sure that you obey the rules , otherwise they take you off the plane Sure , I have travelled by air many many times , and never did the plane fall out of the sky ( ) , and they say that travelling by air is safer than to travel by motorcar , but still we obey the safety rules .
So why do we get people in places such as Kruger who have an attitude of " never happened to me , and never will happen either " .

I love the discussion

And while a Targa-roof is technically a large sunroof and the rules does not refer to it specifically, the spirit and intention of the rules are very clear.

In the meantime I paid my last instalment for our second visit to KNP this year - and as usual we will go there with our beloved Isuzu double-cab.

Dupacc.......you must have a wonderful time, and I hope you see many amazing sightings.
Keep safe.

Your double cab does not have a sunroof, Dupacc ?
Wishing you a bottomless number of sightings !

double-cab