AHC#21 Four Jammed Weapons Angry Lion

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Four Jammed Weapons and an Angry Lion

By Sgt Petros

This is one of the most consistently requested articles by people looking for back copies of the magazine or specific articles. In the nearly two decades since we first published this, the ZPHGA award for bravery has gone seven times to a tracker who has rescued his PH from under a lion, leopard or buffalo. The fact that Gomez Adams was a National Parks officer at the time of this incident rather than a PH and the sergeant tracking for him was a parks game scout does not alter the thrust of the story:- When your rifle lets you down, it is often left to the humble tracker to effect a rescue plan!

Africa’s king of beasts is a force to be reckoned with. The spirited African lion is a most awesome creature to come face to face with, especially when wounded, and is capable of streaking over 20 meters in a single second during a determined charge! What follows is testament to its tenacity, and greater proof of the role fate can play on the Dark Continent.

During the dry, cool month of June 1982, Scout Petros of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management was asked to accompany other staff members to the Mandiboni Pan on the lookout for lion which had been causing havoc preying on cattle in the surrounding communal area.

They left at mid-morning, soon after receiving their instructions and got to Mandiboni Pan at half past ten at night, where they set up camp.

The following is an account of their adventure extracted from a report made by Scout Petros.

"Early in the morning, just close to our base, we spotted the lion’s spoor which was a day old. We then went to the kraal and asked about the lion. We found that the lion had arrived at night and there was fresh spoor. We set off on their track and by mid-morning we found them fast asleep.

“Ranger Adams shot the biggest lion with the .375 rifle, hitting the lion on the front leg. It ran away but we managed to follow the trail of blood and soon caught up to the wounded lion lying under a tree.

"Ranger Adams shot the wounded lion with two rounds of .375, when the gun jammed. Just then the lion charged us. Ranger Adams grabbed the shotgun from Game Scout Wilson, who was closest, tried to shoot the lion again, but that shotgun also jammed! He then took the .270 from me and tried to shoot, but it also jammed. By this time I had aimed my shotgun at the lion which was just a few yards from us, but it also jammed.

“By now the lion was just 20 yards away and both Ranger Adams, who had a .270, and game scout Wilson who had a .375 ran away. Myself, I was busy trying to fix the jammed rifle when the lion jumped at me. I jumped backwards as it charged,
so the lion proceeded to chase Game Scout Nemangwe and Ranger Adams who were trying to run away. The lion smashed Nemangwe to the ground and went on to attack Ranger Adams who hit the lion on the back with his .270 rifle. But the lion jumped on him and smashed Ranger Adams to the ground.

“As he managed to get up, the lion also got up. Ranger Adams ran to a tree with the lion running after him. Soon they were both running around the tree and Ranger Adams kept shouting at me saying: ‘Petros, shoot it. Petros, shoot it!’ and I replied: ‘The rifle as jammed!’”

It would seem that at this point, the lion had again pinned Ranger Adams down, and in desperation he was trying to fend
the lion off using his arms in an attempt to stop it mauling his head, explained by Petros as ‘trying to catch the tongue with both hands.’

“I then shouted across to Game Scout Wilson not to shoot as he was very far away. Instead, I ran up to him, took the rifle
from him and ran back to the scene.

“By now the lion had caught Ranger Adams by the leg. I shot the lion and it fell down. Ranger Adams got up to run away
but the lion also got up and once again they were face to face. Ranger Adams dropped down and the lion opened its mouth and caught his head. I shot at the lion again and it made a small cut in his head.

“All I could hear was Ranger Adam’s voice coming from inside the mouth of the lion. Just as I managed to pull him out, another two lion charged straight at us, but we managed to frighten them away with one of the rifles that had jammed.

“I then gave first aid, using his shirt and that of Wilson, after which I made my way back to our base to collect the radio, but I had a breakdown on the way. I then took the radio with me to the scene because there was no communication with
Hwange. It was only at two o’clock that afternoon that I managed to raise Hwange Main Camp to contact Warden Conway at Chirisa Safari Area and make arrangements to collect Ranger Adams.

“We then carried him to the nearest village - at least 7km away where Warden Conway met us. Ranger Adams was taken
to Chirisa.”

It seems impossible that these men, especially Ranger Adams survived their ordeal. So many jammed weapons, repeated
attacks, broken down vehicles and a seven kilometre trek to the nearest village, with several hours wait before being evacuated. In spite of the odds stacked against them, the scouts can count their blessings.

Apart from being shaken up, all except Derek Adams escaped without physical injuries. Derek sustained wounds to his legs, arms and head with a bad scratch down his back. He also dislocated one shoulder and had several wounds inflicted to his head by the lion’s teeth. After four weeks in hospital, Derek was released and after spending six years hunting in East Africa, still operates today as a professional hunter in Zimbabwe.

It was never clear why all four weapons malfunctioned, although it is possible that in the confusion, a combination of things contributed to the weapons not firing.