By Neil Vigdor
A wealthy big-game hunter from Texas was killed when a Cape buffalo that he had been eyeing for his next trophy attacked him during a safari in South Africa, according to the company that arranged the expedition.
The victim, Asher Watkins, 52, a Dallas real estate executive who sold ranches, was pursuing one of the horned buffaloes in Limpopo province, the northernmost province in South Africa, when the attack happened on Sunday, Coenraad Vermaak Safaris said in an email.
Asher Watkins was tracking a Cape buffalo in South Africa when it attacked and killed him.Credit: Facebook
A mature Cape buffalo bull can weigh nearly 900 kilograms, the company’s website says, cautioning that it is not unusual for buffaloes to charge hunters without provocation and that “no species on the planet has a more fearsome reputation.”
The aggressive temperament of the Cape buffalo has earned it a nickname: black death.
“Asher was fatally injured in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo he was tracking together with one of our professional hunters and one of our trackers,” Hans Vermaak, whose family runs the safari company, said in a statement.
The safari company, which did not provide further details about the deadly encounter, said that it was co-operating fully with the authorities to make sure that it had followed proper procedures.
A Cape buffalo.Credit: Getty Images
The South African Police Service did not respond to a request for comment.
Watkins had a daughter and was divorced. He was a managing partner of Watkins Ranch Group, a land broker specialising in ranches and recreational properties, some listing for more than $30 million, according to his LinkedIn profile and the company’s social media accounts.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Watkins, a Texas native, received a bachelor’s degree in business from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Watkins was a real estate executive specialising in ranches and recreational properties.Credit: Facebook
He is survived by a brother, his mother and his stepfather, according to the safari operator, which described his family as longtime friends of the company.
Coenraad Vermaak Safaris arranges safaris in Botswana, Cameroon, Mozambique and Tanzania in addition to South Africa. The company describes the Bambisana Limpopo – the 20,000-hectare wilderness in South Africa where Watkins was killed – as a “hunter’s paradise”.
It says the area is ideal for “pursuing your dream buffalo”.
“Responsible for several deaths and many injuries to hunters each year, the buffalo is regarded as the most dangerous animal to pursue in Africa, let alone the world,” the company’s website says.
“Crafty and belligerent, he seeks refuge in thickets when wounded or danger approaches!”
On Facebook, Watkins devoted a page to his exploits as a hunter, posting photos of himself with various wild animals that he had killed, including a Sonoran Desert mule deer and a mountain lion. As of Thursday, Texas time, access to the page had been set to private.
After Watkins’ death, some of his other public-facing social media accounts were sprinkled with comments from people criticising his hunting activities.
In a 2018 post, Watkins, who appeared to have been associated with the Dallas Safari Club, wrote: “Hunting Is Conservation”.
The Dallas Safari Club did not respond Thursday to requests for comment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.