A boy attacked by lions at a nature reserve near Krugersdorp on Sunday would have been dead but for his courage and respect for the animals, a curator said.
”The lions knew him, he was very cautious with them and had a lot of respect for them, he is not a fool,” said the curator — who asked to be identified only as Ken — from the Rhino and Lion Nature reserve at Kromdraai.
Dane Kieser, a 16-year-old pupil at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Pretoria is still in intensive care at the Wilgeheuwel hospital in Roodepoort but is in a stable condition.
”He was very badly cut but he is going back to theatre tomorrow to check there is no infection,” said Ken.
Infection is probably the boy’s greatest danger at the moment.
Frank Wessels, manager of the reserve, said Dane was attacked while showing his girlfriend the lions, ”which the curator refused [to allow] without being … present himself”.
Ken was preparing food for a braai when Dane said he wanted to show the lions to his girlfriend.
Wessels said the boy went ahead despite the curator’s refusal, and stroked a lion through the 2,8m-high diamond-mesh fence.
”The lion got hold of his foot and after a while proceeded to pull him under the fence,” he said.
There were five male white lions in the enclosure, and three eventually had hold of the boy.
”We are talking about a collective 600kg of lion here. You don’t have much chance of staying on your side of the fence,” said Ken.
Hearing Dane’s cries for help, the curator ran to his assistance.
Ken said the boy survived because he listened to what he was told while he was in the enclosure.
”He was underneath the lion. I said, ‘If you move you are dead.’ He probably didn’t even breathe. I called the lion off and told him [Dane] to get up and back up to the fence,” said Ken.
The lion lunged with his paw again and hit the boy. Dane jumped up immediately, as Ken had told him to stay on his feet, no matter what.
Ken threw him a stick. Dane hit the lion and shouted at it, and it backed off. The curator told him not to run, to move slowly and not to turn his back to the lions. He backed up against the fence to the gate, where they managed to get him out.
”It was incredibly brave,” said Ken.
Dane was taken to Wilgeheuwel hospital in Roodepoort.
The boy, his girlfriend and his mother — who is the curator’s girlfriend — were visiting the curator at the white-lion breeding section.
Wessels said they visited often, and Dane had previously visited and assisted with the lions.
The public is not allowed in the breeding section, which is protected by an electric fence. Ken said an attack like this has never happened before.
The boy’s mother was distraught after witnessing the attack and was in terrible shock.
”She is a very strong lady,” Ken said. ”I want to reiterate that if it wasn’t for himself, he would be dead, that took a hell of a lot of courage.”
There are only about 40 white lions alive. They were first spotted in South Africa in 1928. It is believed that all white lions are descended from lions at Timbavati, near the Kruger National Park. — Sapa