Well-known birder shot dead

2008-01-03 12:34

Johannesburg - Well-known KwaZulu-Natal birder Robin Guy, 75, was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on Wednesday night.

He and his wife, from Underberg, had been in Johannesburg on a festive season visit when two robbers disturbed a dinner on the verandah of his brother-in-law's home, Guy's journalist son, Duncan, said.

A shot went off and he died instantly.

Sandton police, a private security company and trauma counsellors attended the scene.

Police spokesperson Captain Bhekizizwe Mavundla said the two men, one armed with a handgun, entered the property by jumping the fence, approached the family and "without saying a word" shot Guy in the upper body.

Geologist by profession

The pair then went into the kitchen where the men's wives were washing the dishes and took the house keys from the handbag of the woman who lived in the house.

They then dropped the bag and fled the scene.

No arrests had been made and police appealed to anyone with information to contact Crimestop on 086-001-0111.

Guy was also the father award-winning environmental filmmaker Donald Guy and he leaves his wife, Bella, a daughter Jane, another son Robert, and six grandchildren.

Guy, who turned 75 on Family Day, ran a birding safari tour company based in Underberg, specialising in the birdlife of Sani Pass and Lesotho which he had recently sold to retired university of KwaZulu-Natal zoology professor Steven Piper.

However, he and his wife remained partly involved in the business.

A geologist by profession, Guy had been a game ranger in the Natal Parks Board and a prolific beekeeper in Empangeni, before taking up farming in the Drakensberg.

He was passionate about the history and natural history of the southern Drakensberg.

- SAPA