WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT One man went for a walk in the Dinokeng Game Reserve and never walked back out when he was mauled to death by a roaming lion that tore his skin from his head in a fatal attack
A man was shredded to death by a lion while on a walk at night during his shift at work but, unfortunately for him, during the big cat’s prime hunting time.
At 30, Johannes Matshe was an employee, working for a landowner at the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng, South Africa, when he was killed on shift. It was a Sunday night, August 13, 2023, when he was dramatically torn apart by the lion, and his remains were found the following Monday morning.
The animal pounced on him and tore apart the flesh from his bones, as though the man were simply food for the night. Although, it was later revealed by the reserve’s spokesman Hartogh Streicher that employees are strictly prohibited from wandering through the park after sunset.
Images have shown the exact graphic details which appear to display the lion scalping the skin from his skull. The undisclosed graphic pictures were also thought to reveal his leg bone was poking out of his work boots, completely stripped of flesh.
He explained: “Lions are nocturnal animals, driven by their natural instinct and hunting patterns, and may perceive a person as a normal prey species.”
According to Streicher, the employee’s remains were stumbled upon by an operations manager at the reserve, around the animal’s breakfast time at 10.37am on a Monday morning.
The spokesperson further shared in a statement: “The individual was tragically attacked and killed by lions while attempting to navigate the reserve on foot after dark…The operations manager responded promptly, confirming the unfortunate loss of life.”
At the time, the reserve shared their concerns with the welfare of their other employees and what consequences the lion should be faced with.
The statement added: “Concerning the management of the lions responsible for this killing, no decision has been reached whether they have become unnaturally dangerous, but the reserve is receiving expert advice to make the most responsible decision possible for all parties concerned.”
It’s not the first time that the South African reserve made headlines with a devastating animal death. Just a few years earlier, in 2018, a woman who was at the reserve interviewing the manager, Kevin Richardson, about his work as ‘the lion whisperer’ was killed under very similar circumstances.
The 22-year-old visitor, Megan van der Zwan, was mauled to death by a lion, which pounced on her in a ‘conversation zone’, which doesn’t enable access to the general public.
Richardson, who has appeared in a number of films as a part of his unique relationships to wild animals, shared his thoughts on the incident in 2018.
He said: “Myself and an experienced colleague took three lions walking in the reserve, as we do on a weekly basis, as part of their exercise and stimulation regiment,” he explained.
“We assessed the landscape for other Big Five animals and, as per procedure, sent out a notification that we were walking in the reserve.
“One of the lionesses charged off after an impala and must have run 2 to 2.5km, where she encountered the 22-year-old outside the car. I am devastated, and my heart goes out to this young woman’s family.”
Following the brutal attack, paramedics were called out, but it was too late, and the young woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
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