HIPPO K!LLS AMERICAN TOURIST
…..the incidence occured on June 5th, 2024 in Lower Zambezi
A 70-year old female American tourist has been att@cked and k!lled by a hippo in the Lower Zambezi National Park.
Minister of Tourism Rodney Sikumba has confirmed the development saying the incident happened on 5th June, 2024.
“The Ministry of Tourism is saddened to learn of the tragic
accident that occurred on June 5th 2024 in Lower Zambezi National Park. The report that reached my office from Department of National Parks and Wildlife indicated that a fatal acc!dent involving an American tourist and a hippo in which the tourist were undertaking a walking safari in the company of a tour guide and suddenly a hippo charged against them which led to an unfortunate accident which led to the death of the tourist,” Hon Sikumba said.
“This incident serves as a poignant reminder of the shared responsibility we all have for ensuring the safety of the visitors in the national parks, game management areas and all protected areas.”
The Minister said despite the efforts of the well trained Wildlife Police Officer and tour guide to intervene when the hippo was noticed to have started charging and attacking the tourists, the situation unfortunately unfolded quickly and tragically resulted into the loss of life of a female tourist.
“The Ministry of Tourism through the Department of National parks and Wildlife regrets the incident that happened and this definitely serves as a somber reminder of the importance of adhering to safety protocols in our national parks as we conduct this safari tour guides with all involved,” he added.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased during this challenging time even as we investigate what could have gone wrong with our quick intervention protocols to avert injury or death of any human life. We want to assure the tourism industry that these unfortunate incidences are taken very seriously by our Ministry which is mandated to promote tourism arrivals and to ensure that all our visitors are safe and protected from such unforeseen and unfortunate incidents.”
This is really very sad.Not long a female of 80, an American was killed in the Kafue national park by an elephant.Honourable minister it appears the safari operators in our parks are not very protective to tourists I therefore feel they should be always be accompanied by at least two Zambian wild life authority scouts who are well armed Incase of such attacks by wild beasts.What happened in kafue national park more than a month ago where the 80 years old American woman was killed by a huge elephant was not just an accident but negligence by the safari operators.They saw the elephant charging from some distance but they went ahead getting pictures until the beast reached their vehicle and flipped it.These safari operators must always be accompanied by at least two ZAWA game scouts who are well armed.Tourist safety must be maximized.