Latest news with #OffRoadCentre
CBS News
02-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Lion kills businessman at luxury safari lodge in Namibia after he stepped out of tent to use toilet
A lion killed a man at a luxury lodge in the remote northwest of Namibia, authorities said. The victim — identified by local media as well-known businessman Bernd Kebbel — was camping with other tourists at the tented resort when the early morning tragedy unfolded, police said. Kebbel, 59, was camping with his wife and friends near Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp in the Sesfontein area when he was attacked by the animal, the Namibian newspaper reported. He was attacked when he stepped out of his tent to use the toilet, environment ministry spokesperson Ndeshipanda Hamunyela told local news outlet Informante. Other campers managed to scare off the lion but Kebbel was already dead by then, he said. Police were "attending the scene and a full report will be submitted in due course," spokesperson Elifas Kuwinga said. A lion is pictured at the Hoanib River drainage in northern Namibia, Feb. 8, 2023. Chen Cheng/Xinhua via Getty Images According to the Daily Mail, Kebbel was a philanthropist who supported wildlife conservation in Namibia and once owned Off-Road-Centre, which sold accessories for safari vehicles. Desert-adapted lions roam the remote northwest of the country where mountains and sand dunes meet. In 2023, they were estimated to be around 60 adults and more than dozen cubs. But their numbers have dipped in recent months following a drought-induced drop in prey and conflict with humans. Last August, Namibia authorized the culling of hundreds of animals, including elephants, as part of a plan to feed people in the drought-stricken country. The mauling marks at least the second deadly lion attack in Africa in less than six weeks. In April, a lion killed a 14-year-old girl outside Kenya's capital in a ranch to the south of Nairobi National Park.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lion Kills Wealthy Businessman in Bathroom Trip Gone Wrong
A wealthy philanthropist on an overnight safari in Namibia was mauled to death by a lion as he ventured to use the bathroom. Bernd Kebbel, 59, was killed 'almost instantly' on Friday morning as his wife Conny, 57, listened in horror from their tent, the Daily Mail reported. Kebbel was reportedly sleeping in a tent with his wife above a 4x4 on a campsite when he stepped down in the middle of the night and met his end at a camp in Northern Namibia. Investigating police added that there was not much Kebbel could have done to fend off the attack. 'Thankfully, it would have been quick as a human is no match for a lioness that is in its prime,' a Namibian lion expert told the Mail. 'There are only about 60 desert lions in this region of Kunane where the attack happened and, in this particular area, around the Hoanib Camp, maybe a dozen at the very most.' A lioness locally known as Charlie is suspected of carrying out the attack. Authorities said the lioness will most likely be hunted and killed to prevent further attacks. Kebbel, an avid outdoorsman and businessman, owned the Off-Road-Centre in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, for many years, which bought and sold 4x4 safari vehicles and other accoutrements for wildlife ventures. Kebbel was also known as an avid supporter of wildlife in the area, donating large sums of money to protect the area's lion population, The Sun reported—so much so that an adult male lion was named in his honor. The lion later had to be killed due to becoming a 'problem animal' and attacking local wildlife. Kebbel is survived by his adult children, Dieter and Heidi, both in their late twenties, who are reportedly flying home to Windhoek to be with their mother.
