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 4×4 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 4×4 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.
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