South African big game hunter Theunis Botha lost his life after an unfortunate incident involving an elephant while he was leading a group on a hunt in Zimbabwe. Botha died on Friday after a fellow hunter shot an elephant that had picked him up with its trunk, which caused the elephant to collapse on top of him and crush him to death.
Botha, 51, was leading his group inside the Good Luck Farm preserve on a 10-day licensed hunt when they were charged by four elephants. He was grabbed and lifted by a female, which was then shot and collapsed on top of Botha.
They didn’t realize it at the time, but Botha had stumbled right into the middle of a breeding herd of elephants that had their young among them.
Simukai Nyasha, Zimparks acting spokesman, said Mr. Botha “unknowingly got in the middle of a breeding herd of elephants with several calves and was trampled to death.”
Botha is survived by his wife Carike Botha and their five children.
