Hardy was badly injured
Hardy was badly injured
A german tourist has been left with horrific injuries after being mauled by a leopard which savaged his head in Namibia.

Hardy Specker, 61, and partner Petra Windmeisser, 60, had pulled over to sleep in the Kuiseb Canyon in Namibia when a scratching noise woke them up.

Mr Specker got up to shut the window at around 1am, but the beast jumped up and gripped his head in his claws and jaws.

Ms Windmeisser engaged in a tug of war with the leopard trying to drag her husband back in through the window by his legs.

She told The Namibian he was screaming as the leopard's claws tore out bits of his skin.


She described it as "the worst of my nightmares".

She said: "The struggle went on for some minutes until Hardy eventually managed to stick his fingers into the leopards' eyes which caused it to let go and then I managed to pull him back inside.

"There was blood everywhere and he was bleeding profusely. I tried to stop the bleeding and at the same time made a phone call from our satellite phone to the emergency services to come save us."

Mr Specker's scalp was torn to pieces and his arms and shoulders shredded in the ordeal. He suffered a deep wound to his neck.

After managing to pull her husband to safety, Petra revealed the traumatic event didn't end there.

The leopard jumped onto the roof of the vehicle and alternated between walking on the roof and circling the camper van.


Blood splatters are seen on the couple's camper van
© Africa HuntingBlood splatters are seen on the couple's camper van
She said they were too terrified to move.

The couple were rescued six hours later at 7am by a tourist lodge worker who drove past.

They sounded the horn to alert his attention.

Wilfred Andreas jumped into the driver's seat of the van and rushed them to a nearby hospital.

Mr Specker underwent emergency surgery for his injuries.

He is said to be in a critical but stable condition.

Mr Andreas said that he believed the leopard had been attacked and injured by poachers and had become enraged which is likely why it behaved in such an unusual way attacking the tourist camper van.

Website Africahunting.com reported him saying: "I heard the hooter of the camper blasting and drove over to see how I could assist when a woman alighted from the cab in a panicked state.

"The fact that the leopard attacked the man and the vehicle can only mean it was wounded by someone who shot it and my fear is if the animal is in the vicinity and still alive it could attack again."