Boy, 11, critical after mauling by ‘tame’ lion
AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy is fighting for his life in a South African hospital after he was attacked by a “tame” lion in the kitchen of a farm house.
Paramedics said Kristian Prinsloo was first treated at a local hospital in Ellisras in northern South Africa on Saturday before being airlifted to Pretoria.
Herman Prinsloo, 47, his father, said he, his wife Adri and Kristian, who is their only child, had been visiting his mother-in-law Mari Strydom, 75, for the school holidays. She had taken him to visit her friends, who have handreared three lions. The animals are usually kept in cages, but on Saturday one left its cage and entered the farm house.
Mr Prinsloo said the lion caught the boy and Mrs Strydom by surprise in the kitchen. “My mother-in-law told Kristian to hide in the bedroom. He ran and the lion grabbed him from behind by the neck,” he said. Mrs Strydom was able to wrestle the lion off, but vertebrae in Kristian’s neck were damaged.