Breaking game reserve rules can have deadly consequences

The one thing any experienced game ranger will tell you is that, even if you are Usain Bolt, you can’t outrun an adult lion.

So, don’t get close to one. Even if the big cat doesn’t want to kill you and eat you, it could well swat your head off your shoulders out of curiosity.

In a way, it would have been entertaining to see what the lout who got out of his car at a lion sighting in the Kruger National Park would have done had one of the animals charged him.

It wouldn’t have been much help giving it “the finger”, as he did to other tourists angered by his behaviour.

Likewise, the clown walking along a Kruger dirt road to get closer shots of a group of elephants would probably not have been too well off if the adults in the group had decided to sort him out.

As has been proven, too, a car is no real refuge from an angry ellie.

The rules about not leaving your car in a game reserve are there for a purpose. These places are not zoos and the animals are wild.

Let’s not wait for a tragedy before we start sticking to the rules.