A rescuer ended up with 16 gruesome bite marks on their body after a starving lion attacked them when they were inside a tent.
The researcher had to punch the beast in the face in order to scare it away.
32-year-old outdoor expert Gotz Neef was sleeping when he heard a noise outside their tent at the Okavango Delta retreat in Botswana, South Africa.
When the man realized someone was there, he punched the shadow as hard as he could, but that time, he had no idea that it was a hungry lion.
After the punch, the wild beast got really angry.
The lion attacked and the researcher ended up battling for his life.
The man did not want to be a midnight snack, so the wildlife researcher fought off the predator.
A colleague also noticed what was happening so they did their part.
Dr. Rainer Von Brandis, a researcher, ran semi-naked from his tent to take on the giant cat with a branch, yes a branch.
Talking about the incident, Dr. Brandis said:
I guess I was not a pretty sight in just a t-shirt naked from the waist down and wearing a head torch screaming at this lion who was attacking my friend!
Dr. Brandis is the Research Director of the Wild Bird Trust.
They were on an expedition with Gotz and 6 other researchers in the wilds of Botswana.
Dr. Brandis added:
It had one paw on Gotz and fortunately was chewing on the tent poles rather than him and I just saw some big piles of dried elephant dung and pelted the lion with it really hard. That didn’t work so I threw thorn branches at it but that didn’t work either and by now the lion had Gotz by the elbow and was seriously chewing him and my friend was screaming. I was nearly naked and was screaming as well and ran up to the lion and beat it with a big piece of a tree but it did nothing and then our head ranger Tomalets Setlabosha came out.
As the lion was attacking Gotz, the Dr. was smashing the massive beast with the branch that they were holding.
The lion was so hungry at that time that they continued to attack the massive beast.
Dr. Brandis continued:
Then Tomalets jumped into the Land Cruiser and ran the lion over but it would not leave Gotz alone and he had to run it over three times before it let go and ran off into the bush. The lion was euthanised which was the kindest thing to do for it as it was skin and bone and would have died an agonising death at the jaws of other lions or starving to death if left alone.
After the lion got away, the man was rushed to a local hospital.
Gotz was airlifted to Nambia afterward.
The lion was euthanized by experts due to the injuries that it had sustained from the incident.
Gotz had 16 deep and extremely painful bites that had to be stitched up.
The man had injuries in his arms, shoulders, and head.
Talking about the incident, Gotz said:
I heard something moving around my tent and looked at the time and it 01.26am then saw a head pressed against my tent and a nose. I did not know what was outside my tent and started calling for help and hit the nose with my fist as hard as possible and then it attacked me and began trying to bite and maul me. I heard Rainer shouting “it’s a lion” and I tried to back into a corner of my tent and tried to push the lion away with my sleeping bag but it was determined to attack me.
The researcher is now recovering from their injuries.