arizona republicsat october 30, 1999
Man eaten, lions killed in S. Africa
Town angry at animal deaths
By Andrew Maykuth
Philadelphia Inquirer
MARLOTH PARK, South Africa - No one knows the name of the man who was devoured recently near Nyala Street. The lions left only his head, one foot (still in its shoe), a baseball cap, and a solar panel stolen from a nearby house.
"There were so few leftovers, we couldn't identify him," said Andre Lubbe the clerk of this vacation town bordering Kruger National Park. "We suspect he was an illegal immigrant from Mozambique, a burglar."
The provincial government responded by capturing and killing three lions suspected of being maneaters in this town, to which wild animals migrate easily from the famous Kruger game park next ,door.
Residents of the expensive thatched vacation homes were outraged. Not by the death of the unknown man, but by the fate of the lions.
"A lot of people feel the lions are good watchdogs," said Patrick Buckmaster, the chairman of the Town Council. tie said city residents whose weekend homes are easy prey for burglars felt most strongly about protecting the lions.
The reaction to the lion attack touched off a furor Provincial wildlife officials, accustomed to pleas to kill predators that stray from game parks, couldn't recall another time when residents wanted to save lions that had eaten a human
"I don't think half the people realize the threat they face from lions in that area," said Ertjies Rohm, an investigator for the Mpu- malanga Province Parks Board. "Once an animal has killed a human and eaten it, the chances that he will do it again are much greater."
And, as is often the case South Africa, the issue of race quickly entered the debate.
The residents of Marloth Park are virtually all White, affluent and accustomed to driving the dirt roads in cars and trucks, relatively safe from preying lions. But Black workers on nearby farms and in Marloth. Park can't afford cars and must walk or bike miles through lion territory to reach the nearest grocery store. Provincial government officials suggest privately that the town would react differently if a White person had been killed.
So does Sydney Maziya, 29, a Black Marloth Park ranger who - was attacked by a lion last year. He survived with deep cuts and gashes but spent three weeks recovering in a hospital.
"One of these days, even the White children could be in that situation," Maziya said. "Then are they going to put out those pamphlets saying the lions should be saved?"
Town officials now argue that their concern for the lions' welfare is based on their love for wildlife conservation rather than a fondness for feline security guards.
Still, many people have a cavalier attitude about the threat to human life. Councilman Leslie Deakin, noting that lions previously had demonstrated a preference for victims on bicycles, said some residents. had taken to calling Black cyclists "meals on wheels."
He also expressed frustration at the slant that journalists have taken.
"You got it all wrong," Deakin said. "The headline should be: 'Poetic Justice for Burglar.' "
Lubbe the town clerk, said, "We are not a racist place. That makes me so sorry that the government
looks at it that way.." He said the town regularly invites Black children from area schools to Marloth Park to learn about wildlife.
"The biggest killer by far in Africa are mosquitoes spreading malaria, but the government is doing zip about them - nothing," .said Tony Garwood, the owner of a Marloth Park guest house. "Why Choose the lions? It's a pure emotional thing."
Johan van der Walt, the towns. conservation officer, said people live in Marloth Park because of the wildlife.
"Everybody who buys here knows-there are risks," he said.
Last month's incident was the fifth time in a year that lions have attacked humans in Marloth Park. It was the first fatal attack since the town was created in 1977.