A well known South African conservationist was mauled to death in the bush on Wednesday by two mature white lions kept at his safari lodge.
The attack came after West Mathewson, 68, unlocked the gate into the enclosure where the two lionesses lived, in order to take them for a morning walk.
His wife Gill, 65, attempted to distract the lions but Mathewson had already suffered a fatal injury.
The two 400-lb lionesses, Tanner and Demi, had already killed a man working on a neighbouring property after they broke out of their paddock in 2017. Security around the enclosure was reinforced following that attack.
The lions had been kept at the lodge since they were rescued from a canned hunting farm as cubs.
Many wildlife experts in South Africa say that it is not appropriate to try to domesticate or keep lions away from the wild as they are predators. At least 10 South Africans were killed by lions they were looking after in recent years.
Mathewson’s daughter-in-law Tehri Fergusson told The Telegraph it was unclear why the lions had killed him and suggested his death might have been the result of “rough play”.
“We will only know why he died when we have the results of the autopsy,” she said.
“We have to realise, West was not as young as he thought he was. We are still not sure what actually happened but there was very rough play.”
