Watch: eMalahleni family rescues drowning bushbuck ram from Mozambique sea channel
Holidaymakers turn deep-sea fishing trip into dramatic sea-rescue after wounded buck flees predators and dogs.
What began as a relaxing deep-sea fishing trip off the Southern Mozambican coast turned into a dramatic rescue mission when an exhausted bushbuck ram was pulled from the ocean.
For Hennie Kaufman and his family, this was an experience hard to put into words.
“We had a very exciting day’s fishing, and then we saved a bushbuck. That was the highlight of our day and the big highlight of our trip.”
Kaufman, his wife, Elsjene, their two sons HJ (10) and Kaden (7), and Marcelo, a local friend and house manager at Casa Vida, Nhoxani Villas, where the family was staying, spent the day deep-sea fishing on October 2.
They got some good bites and landed dorado, green jobfish, giant trevally, yellowfin tuna, bonito and skipjack.
Spotted in Hell’s Gate
As they headed home through the Hell’s Gate channel, between Inhaca Island and the Santa Maria (Machangulo) Peninsula, they spotted an unusual shape in the water.
An exhausted bushbuck ram was fighting a losing battle against the swell and beginning to slip beneath the surface.
“The current there is extremely strong,” Kaufman explained.
Pulled onto the deck
He immediately steered towards the animal. Elsjene leaned over the side, grabbed the ram by the horns and held its head above water. Marcelo took hold of the heavy animal and hauled it onto the deck.
“There were deep claw marks on his neck running down to his rump. It must have escaped a leopard and been chased into the channel by two dogs on the beach,” Kaufman said.
Returned to the wild
He realised they could not release the buck on the shore, with the dogs still patrolling up and down, and navigated towards a safer release point.
They beached the boat at the end of the Hell’s Gate channel on the Santa Maria side, just before Camp Carlos.
Kaufman and Marcelo offloaded the buck into the shallows, where it quickly found its feet and bounded up the beach into the bush.
See the video of the rescue here or watch below:
Marcelo waved the ram off as young HJ and Kaden gave it a salute from the boat.
“We fish as a family and stay out at sea as much as we can. It’s our favourite time,” Kaufman said.
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