Minister Coltart’s daughter bitten by lion

May 3, 2010

SW RADIO Africa

By Violet Gonda

3 May 2010

Bethany, the eight year old daughter of Minister of Education David Coltart, was attacked by a lion at Antelope Game Park in Mkoba, Gweru, on Saturday morning.

The Minister told SW Radio Africa on Monday that his traumatised daughter was airlifted to St Annes hospital Harare where she had one operation on her arm on Saturday and another on Monday.

He said his family had gone to the game park in the Midlands province for the weekend. The attack happened in a private section of the farm where the lions are bred.

Coltart explained: “My daughter went to one of the cages were there were lions. She was just away for a couple of minutes and one of the young men she was with said to her that the lion was tame and she could scratch it. And as far as we could tell she just put her hand in the cage and this lion must have grabbed her hand and pulled her entire arm and bit her.”

The Minister said he was by his daughter’s side in seconds when he heard her screaming. “I tried to poke the lion’s eyes through the fence but the game ranch owner heard our cries and came and shot the lion and in that way we released my daughter.”

Coltart said this was the most traumatic event he has ever experienced in his life. “I love all my children, but this daughter has been a child born in the trauma of what our country has gone through in the last ten years, and I have said to people that she has been the antidote to all the poison in our nation. She helped me retain my sanity and so it was deeply anguishing to have this precious daughter so helpless and under so much threat.”

Antelope Game Park is a popular a wildlife resort where tourists and visitors can have the unique experience of walking with lions and riding elephants. The Minister said the lion walks are done with cubs and are extremely controlled.

He stressed that what happened to his daughter was an unfortunate accident which happened in the private area of the game park. He said tourists never go to this side of the park because that’s where the lions breed.

“So the general public need to know that this is not something they should fear. Antelope Park is a game park run according to the highest standards and this was just a very unfortunate accident,” said Coltart.