Wild-cat tamer meets tragic end on highway

CONTROVERSIAL animal trainer Daniel Radziej (33) died in a car crash near Mariental on Monday night, after being filmed for a National Geographic television programme on large predators.

Well-known Namibian cameraman and film-maker Simon Wilkie (42) and British national Julika Kennaway (38), a film director for the nature series, were also travelling in the vehicle. Wilkie, a back-seat passenger, is in Windhoek with multiple injuries, especially to his face and chest.His wife, Sampa Wilkie, told The Namibian that he was conscious and in a stable condition.Kennaway, who was driving and is also in hospital in the capital, is not seriously injured.Sampa Wilkie said the trio had been filming a programme on big cats in South Africa last week, and on Monday finished shooting on a farm in the Mariental area.Wilkie said she had spoken to her husband only moments before the three departed Mariental for Windhoek sometime after 21h00 on Monday.Their rented vehicle, a Toyota Condor, collided broadside with a truck bound for South Africa, about eight kilometres north of the town.The Police said the truck was believed to have veered into the path of the Toyota, whose driver then swerved to avoid a collision, causing the car to spin and leave the road.Radziej, a German national, was thrown from the vehicle, and died of his injuries later that evening.He had just recently moved to South Africa where he was set to run a wildlife rescue and training centre in the Northwest Province.He was planning another trip back to Namibia to pursue a fight that he had been engaged in since late 2002, when the Ministry of Environment and Tourism confiscated a male lion and a female leopard that he and his wife, Catherine, had raised.The Ministry claimed that Radziej’s permits to keep the animals had been withdrawn after the two cats had been accused of having attacked people who visited or worked at the Namib desert farm where they were being kept.By the time the animals, as well as a leopard cub, were confiscated, Radziej had launched a court challenge against the Ministry’s cancellation of his permits.Only in December would he be reunited, briefly, with the three felines, when the Ministry allowed him to see them for the first time in just over two years.Radziej said then that he was delighted to have discovered that both the lion, named Zabou, and the older leopard, which he called Kiara, recognised him and still responded to the instructions he had taught them to obey when he trained them for film and still-photography shoots.He was fighting to have the animals returned to him and hoped to take them to South Africa with him this year.Wilkie, a back-seat passenger, is in Windhoek with multiple injuries, especially to his face and chest. His wife, Sampa Wilkie, told The Namibian that he was conscious and in a stable condition. Kennaway, who was driving and is also in hospital in the capital, is not seriously injured. Sampa Wilkie said the trio had been filming a programme on big cats in South Africa last week, and on Monday finished shooting on a farm in the Mariental area. Wilkie said she had spoken to her husband only moments before the three departed Mariental for Windhoek sometime after 21h00 on Monday. Their rented vehicle, a Toyota Condor, collided broadside with a truck bound for South Africa, about eight kilometres north of the town. The Police said the truck was believed to have veered into the path of the Toyota, whose driver then swerved to avoid a collision, causing the car to spin and leave the road. Radziej, a German national, was thrown from the vehicle, and died of his injuries later that evening. He had just recently moved to South Africa where he was set to run a wildlife rescue and training centre in the Northwest Province. He was planning another trip back to Namibia to pursue a fight that he had been engaged in since late 2002, when the Ministry of Environment and Tourism confiscated a male lion and a female leopard that he and his wife, Catherine, had raised. The Ministry claimed that Radziej’s permits to keep the animals had been withdrawn after the two cats had been accused of having attacked people who visited or worked at the Namib desert farm where they were being kept. By the time the animals, as well as a leopard cub, were confiscated, Radziej had launched a court challenge against the Ministry’s cancellation of his permits. Only in December would he be reunited, briefly, with the three felines, when the Ministry allowed him to see them for the first time in just over two years. Radziej said then that he was delighted to have discovered that both the lion, named Zabou, and the older leopard, which he called Kiara, recognised him and still responded to the instructions he had taught them to obey when he trained them for film and still-photography shoots. He was fighting to have the animals returned to him and hoped to take them to South Africa with him this year.