A pedestrian crossing with white stripes is known as a zebra crossing or a designated pedestrian crossing. A literal ‘zebra crossing’ is, however, the last thing anyone would expect while driving along the N4 in the early hours of the morning – let alone hitting it.

But this is exactly what happened to Mpumalanga safari tour guide Pieter Henrico while passing Alkmaar on his way to Marble Hall for a hunting trip at about 01:30 on November 4.

The shock following the collision did not end there. Henrico said once he and officers of Fidelity ADT had moved the dead zebra off the road, several motorists stopped their vehicles at the scene and descended upon the zebra, each cutting a piece of meat from it until there was almost nothing left.

“I still cannot wrap my head around the whole situation. I was already surprised having hit a zebra on the N4, but the events that followed were just crazy,” said Henrico.

His trip started off just like many of the others he had made scores of times before. He had just passed Alkmaar when he felt a massive impact to his bakkie.

“I didn’t see anything. I just felt the impact and it came out of nowhere.”

He said in the few seconds after the initial impact, he saw the head of a zebra ‘zoom past’ his window, but could not quite believe his eyes.

“I thought I must be seeing things. I immediately stopped my bakkie at the side of the road and first saw the damage that was very bad. I then walked a little way down the N4 and saw the zebra lying in the road. I could not quite believe it.”

Henrico said that Fidelity ADT soon arrived at the scene and helped him move the zebra off the road. He said it was definitely dead and most likely died immediately upon impact.

“While I was waiting for a tow vehicle to remove my car, people began stopping at the side of the road by the zebra and started butchering it. They were just hacking pieces of meat from it and then leaving it for the next person to come along and take their share. When the tow truck arrived and had loaded my vehicle by 02:00, there was almost nothing left of the zebra, just a small pile of meat.”

He said he had no idea where the animal had come from. He added that he was told by some Alkmaar residents that the zebra had been seen wandering the area for the past two weeks, but that they also did not know where it came from or to who it belonged.

Henrico sustained whiplash and soft tissue damage during the accident.

“I had to cancel the hunting trip, and it did put a bit of a damper on the weekend, but luckily I was not seriously injured and no other people were involved or hurt in the accident.”