Leopard attack: 'Human error'
2004-11-30 10:46
Johannesburg - A New Zealand movie producer doesn't want the leopard that attacked her to be killed.
Judith Curran, 46, was attacked by a hand-raised four-year-old leopard, Akira, at Harnas guest farm near Gobabis in Namibia.
Curran was shooting a wildlife documentary for Animal Planet channel.
Speaking from her hospital bed at the Milpark hospital in Johannesburg, Curran said: "I tried to stop him with my hand but then he bit through it."
Colleagues and bystanders rushed to her aid and pulled the leopard off her.
"His teeth cut like a hot knife through butter. He took a huge chunk out of my leg." she said.
"Staying calm saved my life. I felt no pain, I just tried to stop the bleeding."
Curran was flown to Windhoek where she was treated before being transferred to Johannesburg on Friday.
Her doctors said she was recovering quickly and should be discharged on Tuesday. No arteries or nerves were damaged in the attack and a skin graft was done successfully.
"I have to compliment the leopard on his good mouth hygiene - I hardly got any infection - only in my hand."
Her husband, Chris Prendergast, has arrived from Dunedin, New Zealand, to be with her. They will return home this weekend.
"The attack was big news in New Zealand," she said.
Marlice van Vuuren for Harnas guest farm said Akira would not be put down.
"The attack was a human error. Something must have upset Akira. He did not want to kill her."