Things didn’t exactly go to plan at Leeubosch Lodge, near Setlagole in the North West province.

Saturday saw three Croatian hunters dabbling in a spot of canned lion hunting, and they had already taken down one animal when they began tracking a second.

In the moments that followed, 75-year old Pero Jelinic [pictured up top on a previous hunt] ended up being struck by a bullet and, although he was airlifted to Vryburg Hospital by helicopter, ended up dying from his wounds.

Police spokesperson Captain Charlize van der Linden confirmed Jelinic’s death on News24:

 “A case of culpable homicide has been opened, and police are also investigating charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition,” she said.

“At this stage it is not clear who fired the fatal shot that killed Mr Jelinic. Our investigations are ongoing.”

Was it one of his fellow hunters who fired the stray bullet, or was it someone outside of the hunting party? Unfortunately the lodge’s owner, Dr Gideon Engelbrecht, was not actually at the farm at the time of the shooting:

“I was at my surgery when I received the call. I arranged for a helicopter to take the man to hospital, but that’s all I am going to give you at this stage, because the case is still under investigation,” he said.

Meanwhile, back in Croatia, a friend of the deceased has paid tribute to Jelinic. According to the Daily Mail, a lion was going to be the cherry on top of a long hunting career:

…the hotelier from the island of Pag, coveted the head of a lion ‘to crown his rich hunting career’ and had leased his hotel to devote his time to fulfill [sic] his dream…

‘Pero was a passionate hunter of big and small game, and in search of that he travelled most of the world,’ …Slavko Pernar told Croatia’s Jutarnji List newspaper.

‘For the past year he had leased his hotel to dedicated himself to the things he planned to accomplish and enjoyed a deserved retirement.

‘He, unfortunately, received the ugliest end – he died in South Africa doing what he loved. His office, a hunting hall, was full of trophies, deer and bear specimens and everything that could be hunted in Croatia and Europe.’

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not exactly a fan of hunters and hunting, but a stray bullet death isn’t really a lekker way to go.

Still, I’m sure the lion with its head on the chopping block doesn’t mind.

[sources:news24&dailymail]