RUSTENBURG HERALD - ZEERUST - A recent accident involving an elephant at the Impodimo Lodge at the Madikwe Game Reserve, where a French tourist, Lionel Budieu from Nice, was injured, has made national headlines.
Earlier reports suggested that on Sunday, 10 August, a female elephant charged at tourists, leaving the French national with a wound in his right arm and a broken leg. Before the incident, a tour guide noticed guests following elephants and cautioned them that this could anger the animals.
The guides reported that guests ignored the warning and proceeded to follow the elephants and took pictures. As guests moved closer, a female elephant turned around and charged at them, trampling Budieu after he slipped and fell.
Allegedly, several guides rushed to the scene and managed to rescue Budieu from the elephants by firing warning shots. Emergency personnel at the reserve managed to stabilise Budieu before he was air lifted by emergency services to a hospital in Johannesburg.
However, from his hospital bed in Johannesburg, Budieu has refuted the initial reports and said he did not ignore alleged warnings given by a tour guide. “I do not know where they get this information.”
After a morning safari, Budieu and his family returned to the main building to drop off their belongings at their bungalow. “My daughter was ahead of me, and she saw a huge elephant trumpeting,” Budieu recalled. “There was a huge herd of elephants, and we were instructed by lodge staff to stay calm, not run away, and walk backwards quietly.” The elephants then started walking in the other direction, but still on the pathway.
Budieu reported that a guide approached and told him it was safe to return to the bungalow. “My wife asked the guide: ‘Are you sure? We do not want to take any risk’.” The guide replied that all was okay, that he knew the behaviour of the elephants, and that they could go.
As the family left, they encountered elephants on the pathway again. “The guide hid herself near a bungalow and told me ‘run away!’, but too late.” An elephant’s trunk grazed his arm before they charged. “It felt like an eternity for me being stomped on, but maybe it was only two or three minutes. I was sure I was going to die.”
A lodge staff member applied pressure to his arm to stem the bleeding. “We waited two hours before the medic from the reserve came.” There was further delay as Budieu was required to prove he had medical aid before being airlifted. His wife later showed him articles quoting the department’s claim that he ignored warnings and was taking photos. “It is complete rubbish.”
However, he also commented that the lodge staff have been kind, helping his wife and daughter travel to Johannesburg to visit him. “The owner, with a guide from the lodge, came to visit me.”
Impodimo Game Lodge Managing Director, Steve Tucker, confirmed the incident. “We did everything we could. We evacuated him and saved his life essentially. Without our intervention, he would not have survived.” Tucker said he could not comment on the guide’s actions or the allegations against her.
