Hunting trip goes badly wrong

AN encounter with an aggressive leopard almost cost a South African hunter his life on Friday, when he was accidentally shot in the stomach with a hunting rifle.

Punki Swelinao (41) is being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Windhoek Central Hospital after a bullet accidentally fired by an American tourist reportedly grazed his appendix.The incident happened at around 09h35 at the farm Fahlwater in the Karibib area.The skirmish also resulted in injuries to seven hunting dogs that accompanied the party and fell foul of the leopard. Corne Kruger of Omujeve Safaris Namibia, the company that hosted the hunt, told The Namibian that this was unprecedented in his experience.According to Kruger, the group of hunters, accompanied by the hounds and guides, found the leopard’s tracks early in the morning and set off on its trail.However, while previous experience dictated that the dogs would chase the leopard up a tree, Kruger said this time things worked out differently.Instead of fleeing, the leopard turned on the hounds before retreating into the tall grass and later surprising the group by pouncing on Swelinao, wrestling him to the ground.One of the tourists on the trip, Brittany Boddington, apparently fired at the cat, but hit Swelinao in the abdomen instead.The leopard was shot and killed immediately afterwards by one of the professional hunters accompanying them. A total of three shots were fired.Swelinao was rushed to the State hospital at Okahandja, where he was said to have needed six litres of blood.The incident was reported to the Okahandja Police and transferred to the Karibib Police station, which took statements from everyone involved.The Police recorded a routine investigation of attempted murder charge but Boddington was not arrested, and has since returned to the US pending further investigation by the authorities.According to Boddington’s blog site, www.brittanyboddington.com, she had planned on doing a television show about her hunting experiences in Namibia and elsewhere in Africa.