An American big game hunter is dead after a buffalo he was stalking in South Africa turned on him, delivering a fatal blow.
Texas ranch trader Asher Watkins, 52, was on a guided hunting safari on Aug. 3 in South Africa’s Limpopo province and had his sights set on a 1.3-ton Cape buffalo.
Nonetheless, the hunter became the prey when the huge animal ambushed him, executing a deadly charge.
“Asher was fatally injured in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo,” Hans Vermaak wrote in a press release on CV Safaris’ website.
“He was tracking it along with one in all our skilled hunters and one in all our trackers,” Vermaak continued.
“We’re doing every thing we will to support the relations who’re here with us and people back in the USA as they navigate this tragic loss.”
Vermaak called the incident “deeply traumatic” for many who witnessed it and said that the opposite safari members and Watkins’ family “are understandably shaken.”
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“Our deepest condolences exit to Asher’s family, especially his mother Gwen, his daughter Savannah, his brother Amon, and stepfather Tony, and to all his family members and friends. The family are long-standing friends and a part of the CVS family. We hold them close in our thoughts and prayers,” the statement continued.
The fate of the buffalo is unclear.
A warning on the CV Safari website notes the hazards of Cape buffaloes, whose only predators are humans and lions.
“No species on the planet has a more fearsome status than a Cape buffalo,” the statement reads, adding that the animals are “chargeable for several deaths and plenty of injuries to hunters every year.”
Watkins had a Facebook page dedicated to his love of hunting and outdoor pursuits and sometimes shared photos posing with game catches, including deer, waterfowl and mountain lions.
Asher Watkins poses with a dead mountain lion on this undated photo shared to his Facebook page.
Asher Watkins / Facebook
He was a managing partner at Watkins Ranch Group, a business real estate company that sells luxury ranches, farms and land across the USA.
His company biography described him as someone who “spent the higher a part of his life in the outside and on ranches” and as a “proud and devoted father.”
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