Number 6 Larry Trotter II Larry Trotter II was on a 25-day archery hunting
safari when he was brutally attacked by a Cape buffalo.
At the last minute, his tour guides reportedly convinced him to include the large bovine
on his list of game.
Less than half an hour into his first excursion, Trotter came face-to-face with a 2,000-pound
Cape buffalo in open terrain.
He abandoned his bow and started running in the opposite direction, a decision that most
likely saved his life.
Trotter couldn’t outrun the animal, but the padding in his backpack absorbed the initial
impact.
The hunter weighed roughly 220 pounds and stood at 6ft 4ins.
Nevertheless, he was launched nearly 15 feet in the air.
A second charge hooked him in the arm and sent him flying once again, breaking multiple
bones.
As the buffalo attacked him a third time, Trotter put his boots on its forehead and
pushed himself away.
Four members of Trotter’s hunting party shot the beast 9 times before it collapsed,
just inches from him.
The man, a native of Colorado, underwent a number of surgeries to fix his fractures.
Coming up next on our list, a buffalo takes on a jeep and an anti-poaching guard is gored
in the legs but, first, let’s learn more about the large and powerful Cape buffalo.
What Is It?
The Cape buffalo, also known as the African Buffalo, is a massive bovine found in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
This creature is part of the “big five” along with lions, rhinos, leopards and elephants.
The term was coined by big-game hunters to describe the African-native animals most difficult
to hunt on foot.
When it comes to Cape buffalos, the description is more than fitting.
These creatures are large, exceptionally strong and notoriously aggressive.
Males of the nominate subspecies can weigh up to 2,200 pounds, stand nearly 6 feet at
the shoulder and measure over 11 feet.
Their coats are black or dark brown.
They have stocky bodies and short, thickset legs.
The front hooves are wider, a necessary adaptation to support the front of the buffalo which
is heavier and more powerful than the rear.
A distinguishing feature among adult males is that the horns are very close together
at the base.
This forms a bone shield, called a boss, which is arguably the buffalo’s most prolific
weapon.
From the boss, the horns smoothly curve downwards and then upwards, with a possible incline
towards the back or the front.
The distance between the tips of the horns can exceed 5 feet.
The horns are used by the beast to charge at and gore perceived threats.
Cape buffalos are among the most dangerous creatures on the African continent, with hundreds
of attack on humans being reported every year.
Number 5 Cape buffalo Attacks Jeep In September, 2018, an enraged Cape buffalo
rammed its horns repeatedly into a Safari jeep full of people.
The attack took place in South Luangwa, Zambia.
Professional guide and wildlife photographer Peter Geraerdts captured several pictures
of the attack.
The beast charged into the jeep and plunged its horns into the vehicle’s hood, probably
trying to flip it over.
It was reportedly already injured, which is most likely why it attacked.
A Cape buffalo in pain may become more aggressive towards any perceived threats, believing that
its survival is at stake.
The tourists weren’t hurt in the attack, but they were terrified of the massive charging
beast.
Geraerdts called Conservation South Luangwa, a local organization, which cared for the
injured animal.
Number 4 Attack on Anti-poaching Guard An unnamed anti-poaching guard was taken to
the hospital in critical condition after he was attacked by a cape buffalo at a game farm
in KwaZulu-Natal, on the outskirts of Mooi River.
At the time, the man was tasked with supervising white rhinos.
He was out on patrol when he encountered the buffalo and the beast charged him.
The guard sustained traumatic injuries to his legs as he was trying to run away.
The buffalo had gored and trampled his limbs.
He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he remained in serious condition but began
slowly showing signs of improvement.
Coming up next, a vehicle is trapped in a stampede, but first let’s learn more about
the natural habitat of the Cape buffalo.
Where Is It Located?
Cape buffalos are indigenous to Africa and the nominate subspecies, which is also the
largest, can mainly be found in the south and east.
Another subspecies is known as the African forest buffalo, or dwarf buffalo.
Their color is usually red and they’re the smallest subspecies.
Dwarf buffalos inhabit the forests of Central and West Africa.
The Sudanese buffalo is sometimes regarded as an intermediate species between the previous
two and its found in West Africa.
The Nile buffalo typically inhabits the savannas of Central Africa.
Cape buffalos have been described as being among the most successful grazers on the continent.
They can be found in swamps, floodplains, grasslands as well as in the forests of Africa’s
major mountains.
They live in hierarchical herds, which can number over 1,000 members and are led by dominant
bulls.
Cape buffalos don’t have many natural predators with lions being their most common enemy.
However, since the buffalo is stronger and larger, it often takes a coordinated attack
from the entire pride to take down a single individual.
There’ve been only a few cases in which a single male lion has successfully taken
down a Cape buffalo.
During attacks, lion prides tend to isolate individuals since taking on the herd is extremely
risky and may result in heavy losses.
In one particular incident, dubbed the Battle at Kruger, the herd intervened and protected
a calf both from lions and a crocodile attack.
Number 3 Stampede Attacks Car In recent years, there’ve been several Cape
buffalo stampedes at South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
One incident, captured on video in 2016, was of a herd that almost flipped a car over with
its terrified occupants still inside.
The herd had initially crossed the road as several vehicles waited for them.
Then, something frightened them, sending dozens of animals running back into the road.
One vehicle was caught in the stampede and several Cape buffalos collided into it.
No one knew at first what had triggered the stampede.
It was later that a second video emerged showing that a lion pride was actually chasing the
buffalos.
The herd was most likely heading to a water hole nearby, when they encountered the lions.
Fortunately, the vehicle’s occupants emerged unscathed from the collision and only the
car was damaged.
The story would have undoubtedly taken a tragic turn if the park’s visitors would’ve been
caught outside their cars.
Before we get to our next listing about a hunter who was killed by the very buffalo
he was tracking, let’s look at the many ways in which a Cape buffalo can kill you.
How Will It Kill You?
Since Cape buffalos are known to basically ragdoll full-grown lions, it’s not hard
to imagine the amount of damage they can inflict on us.
They’re not only incredibly strong but also notoriously resilient.
There’ve been reports of buffalos that kept going a few hundred feet after being shot
clean through the heart.
They can charge their targets at nearly 35 miles per hour so outrunning them isn’t
really an option.
You’d essentially be dealing with well-over 1,000 pounds of muscle coming at you bone-shield-first.
If the initial impact somehow doesn’t kill you, the buffalo might gore you on the ground
or launch you in the air.
The horns can cause mortal damage to bones and internal organs.
That being said, buffalos don’t even need to use their horns and may choose to trample
you to death.
Under their hooves, you’d essentially be turned into a mangled mass of broken bones
and torn tissue.
All this type of damage can be delivered by a single individual, but you’d likely have
to deal with others in the herd.
Cape buffalos are well-known for their altruism and will respond to the distress call of a
herd member.
They stick together, with calves gathered in the middle, and mob predators, trampling
them or stabbing them with their horns.
There’ve been a number of incidents in which they’ve killed lions or chased them up trees
and kept them there for hours.
When dealing with a herd of the massive beasts, there’s also the danger of getting caught
in a stampede, which can end your life rather swiftly.
By reputation, the Cape buffalo is one of Africa’s most terrifying animals.
According to some estimates, they trample, gore and kill more than two hundred people
every year.
They’re known to locals as “The Black Death” or “The Widow-Maker”.
Number 2 Owain Lewis 67-year-old Owain Lewis was an experienced
hunter who tracked a Cape buffalo for three days, only to be killed by it.
The incident took place at a private game reserve in Zimbabwe.
The beast had been shot and injured by an American hunter that Lewis had been escorting.
Lewis, assisted by an apprentice hunter, was tracking the beast in order to finish it off.
After three days, the man felt he was getting close.
Then, suddenly, the Cape buffalo charged him from the undergrowth.
Lewis’ apprentice couldn’t get a clear shot because his body was in the way.
The beast had caught Lewis completely off guard.
It launched him in the air and he fell hard, breaking his neck in the impact.
The hunter died instantly, but his apprentice eventually managed to deliver a kill shot
on the buffalo.
This had likely spared him from becoming the beast’s next victim.
The owner of Chifuti Safaris, the company that Lewis worked for, claimed to have received
numerous messages of support from people who’d hunted with him.
Up next, a trophy hunter gets his femoral artery severed by a buffalo but, before we
get to that, let’s see how you can survive an attack.
How to Survive?
Unfortunately, there isn’t much an unarmed person can do against a cape buffalo once
it decides they’re a threat.
They don’t mock charge and attack without warning so there’s really no way to prepare.
The best approach is to avoid them all-together.
This means travelling with an armed and qualified guide or watching them from a distance in
a Jeep safari.
If you do opt for the latter, maintaining a safe distance is still paramount, since
Cape buffalos won’t shy away from charging vehicles.
If you’re on foot and you see that a Cape buffalo has started sprinting towards you,
there are still some survival options at your disposal.
Take advantage of any head start and run as fast as you can towards higher ground.
This is not the type of animal that will give up on an attack if you decide to face it.
You can use obstacles in the environment, such as trees or large rocks, to break its
charge.
Climbing a tall tree might save your life since fighting the buffalo with your bare
hands isn’t really an option.
Number 1 Claude Kleynhans Professional hunter Claude Kleynhans was killed
by a Cape buffalo in the Limpopo province of South Africa.
The man, who ran a hunting safari, was on a trip with several clients.
On its website, Guwela Safari also had trophy tariffs for giraffe, hyena, zebra and elephant.
Prior to the attack, Kleynhans and his party had shot and killed a buffalo on the bank
of the Levubu River.
As they were loading the carcass onto a vehicle, a second buffalo from the herd charged the
54-year-old hunter.
The animal gored him and severed his femoral artery, killing him almost instantly.
As news outlets picked up on the story, Kleynhans was described as “one of the country’s
finest ethical hunters” and claimed that his interests extended towards conservation
as well.
In the aftermath of the fatal attack, a number of users online posted comments on Kleynhans
social media.
Some of their reactions suggested that the hunter had gotten what he deserved and that
his death was the result of karma at work.
Thanks for watching!
Would you rather get attacked by a cape buffalo OR stub your toes on furniture, at least once
a day, for the rest of your life?
Let us know in the comments section below!