A video of what appears to be a dead leopard being slapped about the head repeatedly, has caused an uproar among the public. It is alleged the incident took place in the Kruger National Park (KNP) on Sunday.

The video was posted by a woman named Karen Birkenbach on The Concierge Facebook page. It appears to be a screen recording of a video posted by Liz Penprase. Birkenbach alleged in her post that the incident depicted in the video shows what had happened after a leopard was shot in the Kruger National Park on Sunday.

Warning: Not for sensitive viewers. Click here to watch the video.

The leopard was reportedly shot following two attacks on employees in the KNP recently. In the latest, an employee of Kruger Shalati was attacked on Sunday.

The first incident happened on June 26 when an employee at the Skukuza golf club was attacked.

SANParks released two statements on its social media pages yesterday regarding a video circulating on social media of a leopard that was ‘destroyed’ by rangers.

The first statement reads, “SANParks Management is aware of a video of a leopard that was destroyed by Rangers on Sunday 17 July 2022 which is circulating on social media.

“An employee from Shalati Concession was attacked by a leopard en route to work earlier that day. This was the second such attack on a worker employed in the park in almost the same vicinity.

The circumstances surrounding the destruction of the animal were explained in a statement released by SANParks on the same day.

“Managements condemns the actions and behaviour depicted on the video in the strongest terms. A report on the incident is being prepared by Ranger Services and the outcomes of that report will inform management action in relation to the recorded incident. The recording is unfortunate and deeply regrettable.”

The second statement was posted a few hours later.

“Social media alert update – SANParks Management is concerned that the offensive video is being circulated on social media. The statements that SANParks are involved in a cover-up are unfounded and unwarranted.

“Our statement made it clear that SANParks condemned this behaviour and indicated that reports [that are] being completed from Ranger Services will inform actions to be instituted against perpetrators. We call on the public to stop sharing the video, and to await further communication on the matter from SANParks, which will follow tomorrow.

“We also humbly request that the public remain patient with us while we employ the correct procedures to deal with the matter.”