The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Zephania Ubwani
18 September 2008
The mother of the child who was mauled by a leopard at a tourist lodge three years ago broke down and wept at the High Court yesterday as a witness narrated how her son's motionless body was found.
Ms Cecile Pereira could not hold back tears as a medical doctor who examined her son's body explained how the child died.
The 39-year-old woman, who is a French translator with the United Nations in Geneva, had to be calmed and consoled by her equally distraught husband, Mr Adelino Pereira, and other relatives.
It took some minutes for her to regain her composure and listen to the testimony of a Canadian medical doctor who was the first person to attend to the dying boy.
Dr Scott Markey told the High Court presided over by Judge Kakusulo Sambo that he tried to resuscitate Adrien after he was attacked by the leopard, but it was too late.
Mr Pereira's family is suing the operator of Tarangire Safari Lodge for alleged negligence, which led to the death of his first child, then aged seven.
The attack took place on the evening of October 1, 2005 when Mr Pereira, his wife and other hotel guests were having dinner.
Adrien was among several children who were playing outside the lodge when the male leopard reportedly pounced on the child before disappearing into nearby bushes.
Dr Markey said in his two-hour testimony that he checked into the lodge on September 30, 2005, a day before the Pereira family arrived.
He told the court that he was in the barbecue area on the fateful evening, shortly before the attack took place.
He added that the evening was hectic because the lodge was full of guests, who were mostly discussing their experiences on game drives.
Incidentally, some of the visitors are said to have expressed disappointment for not having seen animals such as the leopard during their drives within the Tarangire National Park.
The private medical practitioner said he overheard a lodge waitress called Mary telling the guests not to worry because there was a leopard which frequented the area.
Dr Markey and a group of 15 to 20 guests were later taken to the verandah of the lodge where, with the aid of spotlights, they saw a leopard lying on the wall fence.
He said the leopard was spotted near a path leading to some tents from the main building.
"I remember feeling unsafe standing there. In few minutes I went inside the dining hall," he said, adding that other people stood outside looking at the animal.
Dr Markey said he heard a loud scream shortly afterwards, adding that there was a commotion in the barbecue area.
"Within two minutes it became clear that a child has been snatched by the leopard. Nobody took the control of the situation on what to do and not to do," he said.
He said a rescue operation was underway within minutes and two vehicles drive in the direction of the attack. The vehicles drove back to the lodge after 15 minutes with a distraught Mr Pereira carrying the motionless body of his boy in his hands.
"Being a doctor, I intervened. I tried to assess the boy's injuries. His neck was broken. There were also teeth marks in front of his neck. I tried to resuscitate him," he said.
"I tried to compress his body. His pulse was very slow as were his heartbeat. He was no longer breathing. There were only 10 heartbeats per minute instead of the normal 80 to 90 beats," Dr Markey said.
The boy was taken to a nearby dispensary where he was pronounced dead. "There was nothing we could do. We rushed back to inform his already devastated mother," Dr Markey said.
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