A day before 10-year-old Aden Fry was rushed to a local doctor for treatment after a cheetah attack, a 70-year-old woman was viciously mauled by a cheetah as well.
Aden made national news after he was attacked by a cheetah at the Kwa Cheetah Breeding Project just outside Ladysmith on Thursday last week.

The cheetah lunged at him through a fence, dragging him closer before biting him.

Kwa Cheetah staff managed to loosen the animal’s ‘grip of death’ by inserting their fingers into its nose, shocking the animal into releasing the boy.

The story made national news and when initially contacted, the attack was described as a once-off freak incident.

This, however, was not true, as it has since come to light that a 70-year-old woman had been viciously mauled by a cheetah at the breeding project the day before.

A family relative, speaking to the Ladysmith Gazette, confirmed the attack and also confirmed their horror at statements made that the boy’s attack was a once-off freak occurrence.

The woman, who asked not to be named, confirmed that the elderly lady was inside the enclosure with the animals, other tourists and a guide when she was attacked.
The 70-year-old suffered severe bites to the upper body and a broken hip.
She was transported to a local hospital by ambulance.

Other less severe incidents have also been confirmed by eyewitnesses. Yet, when asked, those attacked are told that such attacks have never happened before.

In one such attack, a young woman was pinned down by a male cheetah for close to a minute while the guide tried to calm the animal down.

One onlooker explained how the guide appeared clueless about what to do.

He just kept on telling the animal to calm down while the woman yelped in pain.
The cheetah eventually released its grip on the woman.
She suffered bite marks to her arm.
The rest of the tour group were severely traumatised.

A senior guide was overheard telling the still shocked woman how “nothing like this has ever happened before”.

At the time of going to press, Nambiti Conservancy’s Clarke Smith confirmed all three incidents.

All cheetah interactions have been halted for the time being.

Official press release:

On Thursday, August 6, a pupil from Cowan House was injured while viewing cheetah at the Kwa Cheetah Breeding Project at the project premises near Ladysmith.
A male cheetah managed to force its head and front leg through the fencing of the animals’ enclosure and grab at the boy’s back.

The child was injured on his left shoulder and was immediately treated for the injuries. He was back at school today. The day before this incident, an elderly lady was knocked down by the same cheetah while inside the viewing enclosure. This behaviour is totally out of character for the individual cheetah and might in fact have been play behaviour or the woman’s surgical procedure a few days before might have triggered the animal’s response.

Safety precautions at Kwa Cheetah are rigorous. Children are not allowed into any of the enclosures, with only people over a certain height allowed in after a thorough briefing. None of the cheetah at the project have displayed behaviour of this nature before and it is contrary to their usual demeanour.

The cheetah involved in the incident was examined to check for possible causes of the behaviour and has been isolated for further observation. No measures against the cheetah are being considered. The Kwa Cheetah Breeding Project was established five years ago to support the conservation of critically endangered cheetah in Southern Africa.

The project aims primarily to work towards increasing the SA cheetah population, releasing cheetahs into the wild and educating the public about cheetah and their current precarious status. There are currently at least five cheetah set to be released into the wild as part of a carefully planned, phased release process once the relevant permits have been obtained from Ezemvelo/KZN Wildlife.
CEO Clarke Smith

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