Cape Vidal hyena victims speak out

Hyena attack survivor Tim Govender (48) is still suffering flashbacks after he was mauled and bitten while sleeping in his tent at Cape Vidal on 11 August.

He has had reconstructive surgery to his partially mutilated nose, and is having to have his wounds dressed weekly in hospital.

ALSO READ: Another hyena attack at Cape Vidal camp site

“My wife tells me that at night I start fighting off the hyena in my dreams,” Tim told the ZO on Wednesday morning while on his way to hospital.

The Johannesburg businessman had been on a fishing excursion to Vidal with friends when he was attacked in the early hours.

He is still deciding whether or not to take legal action against Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, but is disappointed that nobody from the organisation has bothered to make contact or to see how he is doing.

“I did get a phone call from someone from Ezemvelo while at Melomed Hospital saying they would visit, but no contact since then,” he said.

Govender said, at present, he has no intentions of going back to Cape Vidal.

ALSO READ: iSimangaliso urges strict do’s and don’ts after latest Cape Vidal hyena incident

And while Ezemvelo and iSimangaliso Wetland Park issued a joint statement on Wednesday, in which they offered sympathy to the victims, the lack of direct contact was also highlighted by Colin Hohls, father of Nicolas (27), who was severely wounded by a pair of hyenas on Saturday night.

The joint statement also spoke of failed attempts to capture and relocate the animals, but according to Colin, talk is rife that visitors might take the situation into their own hands.

“Sooner or later, someone will use a gun and silencer to ensure safety for humans.”

This especially since the pair of hyenas that savaged his son to the point of him requiring reconstructive surgery, had reportedly wandered through the camp for hours the following morning, their faces covered in his blood.

“They have lost all fear of humans and it could well be that the next attack is fatal, perhaps even a child victim,” Colin told the ZO.

“There are not many options: either get a professional hunter to put them down, or close the camp – which would be a pity.”

Nicolas told the ZO on Wednesday, when he was being discharged, that he had been going to Vidal with his family since he was a baby, and would want in future to see his own children do the same.

“It’s not the hyenas’ fault, but things simply must be made safer for them and us,” he said.

He said he had reacted instinctively to the attack.

“I had no plan; I knew it was a predator and just tried to fight it off. I certainly did not give any thought to putting my arm down its throat!”

While Nicholas has had rabies tests, lost a pint of blood and will carry some scars permanently, he expected no long-term physical issues other than ‘walking a bit wonky for a while from the bite on my leg’.

The ZO has it from a reliable source that Ezemvelo is reluctant to spend any money on the camp, since they will be handing over management of eco-tourism functions to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park authority early in the new year.

Instead, they appear to be largely pinning the blame on campers’ conduct.

However, in the joint statement, Ezemvelo and iSimangaliso confirmed that ‘work is being carried out to capture and relocate the two or three hyenas that often roam within the campsite and are suspected to have been responsible for the recent incidents’, and that camera traps will be installed to monitor and identify individual hyenas.

The recent incidents are reminiscent of a similar one in 2016, also at Cape Vidal, when Mpumalanga resident PJ Theron was attacked by a hyena that bit him in the face through the side flap of his tent.

He was treated for cuts and a broken nose.

A similar tent incident took place in 2011 at the then Sontuli Camp at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, where a teenage schoolboy survived a hyena attack while camping.

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