Harare, Zimbabwe — A South African big game hunter died on Friday in Zimbabwe after a fellow hunter fired his gun at an elephant causing it to collapse on him, according to multiple media reports.
According to News 24, Theunis Botha, 51, was leading a group of hunters when four elephants charged the group inside the Good Luck Farm preserve in Zimbabwe.
A female elephant lifted Botha with her trunk and another hunter shot her. The elephant collapsed and fell on Botha, killing him.
Simukai Nyasha, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, told news.com.au that Botha was on a 10-day licensed hunt when he “unknowingly got in the middle of a breeding herd of elephants with several calves and was trampled to death”.
Botha often worked with American and European hunters to take part in trophy hunting expeditions. According to his company’s website, Game Hounds Safaris, he “perfected leopard and lion hunting safaris with hounds in Africa.”
Botha is survived by his wife Carike Botha and their five children.
